NYSE-listed Chinese delivery firm ZTO Express to raise up to US$1.6 billion in Hong Kong secondary listing
- ZTO Express sets a maximum price of HK$268 a share for its secondary listing
- Share sale comes amid a flurry of listings in the city this week
Delivery firm ZTO Express (Cayman) said on Wednesday it expects to raise up to HK$12.1 billion (US$1.6 billion) in a secondary listing in Hong Kong this month, becoming the latest in a flurry of US-listed Chinese companies seeking to raise funds in the city as tensions mount between Washington and Beijing, according to a US regulatory filing.
ZTO Express plans to sell 45 million shares, including 2.25 million shares to retail investors in Hong Kong, representing about 5 per cent of its global offering, according to a prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in the early hours of Wednesday. There is an option to sell up to 6.75 million additional shares as part of an overallotment.
The offering has a maximum price of HK$268 a share, which represents a 10 per cent premium on the company’s closing price of US$31.37 a share in New York on Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange-listed company plans to price its secondary listing on September 22, with trading in Hong Kong to begin on September 29. Its shares will trade under the symbol 2057.
The move by ZTO Express to list closer to its home market is the latest by a Chinese company that originally went public in the United States, and follows secondary listings in Hong Kong this year by technology companies JD.com and NetEase, and Yum China, the mainland Chinese operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants. Combined, these firms have raised about US$10 billion this year.
In November 2019, Alibaba Group Holding raised US$12.9 billion in a secondary listing in Hong Kong, following rule changes that made it easier for technology companies and pre-revenue biotechnology companies to list in the city. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
Shanghai-based hotel chain operator Huazhu Group priced its secondary listing at HK$297 a share on Wednesday, raising about US$782 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. That represents a 2 per cent discount to its closing price in New York on Tuesday.