JD.com becomes the latest Chinese company to turn to Hong Kong with $4 billion listing
The transaction could raise more than $4 billion for the company, assuming it prices at the top of the range. The final price is expected to be set on Thursday. JD declined to comment about its minimum price for the new shares.
The company said it wants to use the money to invest in supply chain technology and improve operating efficiency.
JD is expected to begin trading in Hong Kong on June 18, the same day as the company’s founding and the final day of its annual shopping blitz in China known as 618.
JD’s Hong Kong listing comes as tensions between the United States and China are on the rise, threatening to break a fragile trade truce between the world’s biggest economies. Washington and Beijing have clashed over a new Hong Kong national security law, pointed fingers over who is to blame for the coronavirus pandemic and are locked in an ongoing fight over who controls the technologies of the future.
While JD seeks to raise billions of dollars in Hong Kong, Chinese companies on Wall Street are facing heightened scrutiny.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday praised the Nasdaq for proposing new rules on compliance that could affect Chinese companies, adding that other exchanges should consider similar regulations.
In filings to the SEC, JD cited the heightened US regulatory environment and the potential passage of the bill as possible risk factors.
“Enactment of any of such legislations or other efforts to increase US regulatory access to audit information could cause investor uncertainty for affected issuers, including us, the market price of our [US shares] could be adversely affected, and we could be delisted if we are unable” to meet requirements in time, JD said.
JD’s Hong Kong listing will be tied to the performance of the 618 shopping campaign, which is being closely watched this year as a barometer for China’s economy. Domestic consumption will be key to the country’s economic recovery, because the rest of the world is still fighting Covid-19.
Like Singles Day, many other retailers take part in 618, including Alibaba and Pinduoduo.
— Laura He contributed to this report.