Meituan Dianping rises on Hong Kong debut after US$4.2 billion IPO, pushes co-founder’s net worth to US$5.3 billion
Wang Xing, CEO at food delivery service platform, now among China’s richest
China food delivery service platform Meituan Dianping closed up 5 per cent on its trading debut on Thursday, pushing co-founder Wang Xing’s net worth up to US$5.3 billion.
The company’s market cap reached about HK$400 billion (US$51 billion), exceeding that of many top Hong Kong companies on the benchmark index.
The Beijing-based company, which raised US$4.2 billion in the city’s second-biggest technology initial public offering this year, opened higher and briefly touched HK$74 per share. It closed the day at HK$72.65, up 5.3 per cent from its IPO price of HK$69. HK$8.4 billion worth of shares changed hands, 10 per cent of the main board’s turnover.
Wang, who is also CEO of Meituan, saw his 10.44 per cent stake in the company rise to HK$41.65 billion by the close.
This makes him the 30th richest man in China, ahead of Hongqiao Group chairman Zhang Shiping and Hope Group chairman Liu Yonghao, according to data from Bloomberg on Thursday.
Mu Rongjun, co-founder and senior vice-president of Meituan, also became a billionaire, with his 2.3 per cent share worth HK$9.18 billion. Wang Huiwen, another co-founder, saw his 0.66 per cent interest rising to HK$2.6 billion.