“Chinese online short-video company Kuaishou will open the books for its Hong Kong initial public offering to raise at least US$5 billion next Monday in the city’s biggest float in more than a year,” Reuters reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Analysts from the participating banks have already begun briefing potential investors, the sources shared. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Securities, and China Renaissance are acting as Kuaishou’s underwriters for the IPO. The report follows the video-sharing app’s November 2020 preliminary prospectus filing with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, signaling its preparations for the trade debut. A month prior to this, Kuaishou was reportedly looking to raise up to US$5 billion from the IPO, which can come as early as January. The ByteDance rival, however, disclosed neither the offering’s size nor a specific timetable in its preliminary filing. The company plans to determine the exact size of the IPO after its scheduled meetings this week, the sources said.
Tech in Asia has reached out to Kuaishou for comment.
In the November 2020 filing, Kuaishou disclosed that it generated roughly US$3.82 billion during the first half of last year, a year-over-year growth of about 48.3%. At the time, the company had over 302 million daily active users and 776 million monthly active users on its apps and mini-programs from the start of the year through June 30.
