Kuaishou aims to sell shares at up to HK$115 each, as world’s second-largest video sharing app kicks off bumper Hong Kong IPO

Name: Stop offering ‘untrusted’ Chinese apps like TikTok and WeChat, Washington urges US tech companies
Uploaded: 2021-01-25T01:48:44.000Z
Duration: 3 min 7 s
Description: Stop offering ‘untrusted’ Chinese apps like TikTok and WeChat, Washington urges US tech companies

The share sale will raise as much as US$5.4 billion pre-greenshoe and US$6.2 billion post-greenshoe, according to a terms sheet

The deal values Kuaishou at as much as US$61.7 billion if the greenshoe is fully exercised

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Short video-sharing platform Kuaishou plans to raise up to US$5.4 billion in its Hong Kong initial public offering. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

Alison Tudor-Ackroyd,Chad BrayandGeorgina Lee

Published: 9:48am, 25 Jan 2021Updated: 11:35pm, 25 Jan 2021

Kuaishou Technology, the world’s second-largest short-video platform, plans to raise as much as US$5.4 billion (HK$41.9 billion) in what will be Hong Kong’s biggest initial public offering in more than a year.

The Tencent Holdings-backed company is marketing 365 million shares to investors in a price range between HK$105 and HK$115 a share, which could raise as much as US$5.4 billion if an additional greenshoe option is not exercised, according to a term sheet seen by South China Morning Post.

If Kuaishou triggers the sale of greenshoe, or option for the underwriter to sell more stock based on strong demand, the offering would rise to US$6.2 billion, making it Hong Kong’s biggest flotation since Alibaba Group Holding’s US$13 billion secondary listing in November 2019, according to data from Refinitiv.

The price range of Kuaishou’s IPO rose over the weekend due to strong early demand from institutional investors, according to a person familiar with the deal, declining to be named for discussing a confidential matter. The IPO is expected to price on Friday, for the shares to begin trading on February 5.

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Stop offering ‘untrusted’ Chinese apps like TikTok and WeChat, Washington urges US tech companies

The offering would value Kuaishou at as much as US$61.7 billion including the greenshoe, which would make it more valuable than rival Nasdaq-listed Bilibili and online streaming site iQiyi. Kuaishou’s officials declined to comment.

A successful stock sale by Kuaishou would lift market sentiments and pave the way for subsequent offers in Hong Kong. Bilibili is expected to pursue a secondary offering in the city in the first quarter.