Tencent-backed Chinese real estate platform Beike to raise US$2.12 billion after pricing US IPO above indicative range
- Strong investor demand helps Beike Zhaofang, the online property transaction platform backed by Tencent, to price IPO above target range, a person familiar says
- Beike Zhaofang’s US$2.12 billion IPO is biggest US IPO by a Chinese company since iQiyi in March 2018
The company, better known by its business platform Beike Zhaofang in China, will raise US$2.12 billion from the sale of 106 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at US$20 each on the back of strong demand, according to a person familiar with the transaction. The company had indicated a price range of US$17 to US$19 each in its IPO prospectus.
The IPO is the biggest since Chinese online video platform iQiyi raised US$2.4 billion in March 2018, according to data compiled by Refinitiv. Trading of the ADS on New York Stock Exchange is expected to begin Thursday. Each Beike ADS represents three of the company’s class-A ordinary shares.
There is an option to the IPO underwriters to increase the size of the IPO by an additional 15.9 million ADS to cover excess investors demand. The lead underwriters for the deal included Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, China Renaissance, JPMorgan.
Beike Zhaofang’s deal comes amid a recent pickup in momentum in US listing applications by several Chinese companies despite rising hostility in US-China ties and a backlash from accounting scandals involving the likes of Luckin Coffee and Kingold Jewelry. The US is also proposing new rules to tighten the audit oversight of US-listed companies based in China and other so-called non-cooperating jurisdictions under a January 2022 comply or delist deadline.