TMT enterprises eye Hong Kong for secondary listing

Measures issued by China and the US drove companies to list in Hong Kong.

More Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) companies are looking at Hong Kong for their secondary listing, PwC reported.

In the first half of the year, four TMT enterprises selected Hong Kong for their secondary listing, raising a combined RMB52.9b (US$8.15B). This accounted for 25% of the total financing of TMT initial public offerings (IPOs) over the same period.

“A series of measures issued by Chinese and American regulators on the listing of Chinese enterprises in the United States has paved the way for mainland Chinese enterprises to list in Hong Kong,” PwC Global TMT Industry Leader Wilson Chow said.

“The appeal of the Hong Kong IPO market for China concept stocks is anticipated to keep growing over the second half of 2021.”

Hong Kong, along with other overseas markets, has become a popular destination amongst TMT enterprises launching IPOs.

There were 78 IPOs from mainland TMT enterprises, marking a drop from the 109 recorded in the second half of 2020.

The total amount of financing for the 78 listings reached approximately RMB213.8b (US$32.9b). The largest IPO of a mainland TMT company in the first half of 2021 was by Kuaishou Technology, which raised around HK$48.3b in Hong Kong.

In the first half of 2021, 34 mainland TMT enterprises, representing 44% of the overall number, chose to list in Hong Kong and overseas.

They raised about RMB175.8b (US$27.1b), accounting for 82% of the total financing.

Another 28% and 22% of mainland TMT enterprises elected to list on the STAR Market and the ChiNext Market in Shenzhen, respectively.