New York-listed Kingsoft Cloud has joined the rush by Chinese companies to seek a Hong Kong listing, as the threat of US delistings and official encouragement sets a trend expected to reap billions of dollars for the territory’s stock exchange.
The cloud computing company filed its initial prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late on Wednesday to press ahead with the primary listing, which it had said it was exploring in March.
E-commerce company Alibaba Group said on Tuesday it was seeking to convert its secondary listing in Hong Kong to a dual primary listing.
That would allow it to apply for Stock Connect, the scheme which makes it easier for mainland Chinese investors to buy Hong Kong stocks.
Secondary listed stocks are not included in the Stock Connect scheme.
Kingsoft Cloud, in a statement, did not identify a time line or how much it could look to raise in the Hong Kong listing.
The company has not decided on the size of the deal, which would depend on its share price closer to the launch of the transaction, said one source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The company, which listed in New York in May 2020, has endured a volatile period, with its shares down 77% year to date amid China’s regulatory crackdown on its tech sector.
Its shares were sold in the IPO at $17 each and the stock closed on Wednesday at $3.47, giving it a market capitalisation of $845 million.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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