Kuaishou nearly triples in the largest tech IPO from Uber

Photographer: Yan Cong / Bloomberg

Kuaishou Technology, the operator of China’s most popular short video service after Douyin of ByteDance Ltd., jumped 194% in its Hong Kong debut after an initial public offering of $ 5.4 billion that went attract hundreds of billions of dollars in orders.

The shares opened at HK $ 338, compared to the IPO price of HK $ 115, valuing the company with the support of Tencent Holdings Ltd. at $ 179 billion. The company sold shares at the top of its price range in a deal that ranks as the world’s largest IPO since the sale of U.S. shares of Uber Technologies Inc. in May 2019.

This spectacular rise gives Kuaishou a price that rivals ByteDance, which was looking for funds for the last time. Valued at $ 180 billion, it introduces the nine-year video app to the ranks of China’s largest technology companies. Once known for conveying quirky representations of Chinese rural life, Kuaishou cemented his place among a generation of mega-startups like food delivery giant Meituan and leader Didi, who grew up in the years following Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings.

If profits were maintained, this would give Kuaishou the second-best debut in history for a more than $ 1 billion IPO in the world, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It joins the already long list of floats that have appeared on its first day of trading in recent months amid excess liquidity and very low interest rates.

Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and China Renaissance were joint sponsors of the deal. Kuaishou shares rose 166% to HK $ 306 as of 1:22 pm in Hong Kong. The shares could be added to the Hang Seng China Enterprises index later this month if their market value were among the indicators 10 more at the close on Friday.

The star debut will be an encouraging sign for ByteDance, a bigger rival, who is said to be there. debates to list some of its assets in Hong Kong. The owner of TikTok, a long-time rumored IPO candidate, was caught last year fighting the U.S. ban on its popular global application after being labeled a threat to the stock market. national security.

“A successful list of Kuaishou will pave the way for his biggest rival,” said Vey-Sern Ling, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Douyin will be more motivated to reach the market and investors will be able to get a better view of the Chinese short video industry with Kuaishou’s regular disclosures in the future.”

Breaking records

The Kuaishou departure party broke records in Hong Kong by the number of retail investors subscribing to its shares and the amount pledged in the process. Approximately 1.4 million mom and pop investors (one in five people in the city) shipped $ 1.26 trillion ($ 163 billion) orders, while institutional buyers accumulated nearly $ 200 billion. dollars.

Demand coincided with the frenzy of the Hong Kong franchise of Ant Group Co.’s mega-IPO, which garnered $ 1.3 trillion in guests for its retail segment, before it collapsed. projected offer of $ 17.2 billion.