JD seeks US$4.1 billion in year's biggest Hong Kong listing

SUNDAY, June 07, 2020

China’s No. 2 online retailer JD.com Inc is seeking to raise as much as HK$31.4 billion (US$4.05 billion) for a second listing in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as the Nasdaq-listed firm seeks a foothold closer to home amid rising US-China tensions.

JD.com is offering 133 million new shares at as much as HK$236 each, according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News. The maximum price represents a 7.8 percent premium to JD.com’s Thursday closing price in New York.

JD.com’s share sale is set to be the largest in Hong Kong this year, coming hot on the heels of NetEase Inc’s US$2.7 billion offering in the city.

Escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing are increasing risks for Chinese mainland companies like JD and NetEase that are seeking to broaden their investor base.

The debuts would follow Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s US$13 billion stock sale last year, hailed as a homecoming for Chinese companies and a win for Hong Kong stock exchange. The city lost many of the largest tech corporations to US bourses because it didn’t allow dual-class share voting at the time -- a requirement that’s since been relaxed.

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JD.com’s Hong Kong share sale represents about 4.3 percent of its total shares outstanding before an over-allotment option. The company is taking orders from institutional investors from Friday and will kick off retail investor subscription on June 8, according to the terms.

It aims to price the offering on June 11 and to begin trading on June 18. JD.com plans to use the proceeds for key supply chain-based technology initiatives.

Bank of America Corp, UBS Group AG and CLSA Ltd are joint sponsors of JD’s Hong Kong share sale.