Kuaishou's blockbuster IPO signals greater activity in the Asian markets

The logo of Chinese video sharing company Kuaishou is seen at its company in Hangzhou. Kuaishou's shares almost tripled on their Hong Kong debut following a $5.4bn IPO that was the biggest for an internet firm since 2019. AFPShow less

Kuaishou Technology’s eye-popping debut in Hong Kong on Friday following a mega $5.4 billion initial public offering has sent a strong signal to other listing candidates waiting in the wings -- that this is a great time to go public.

The operator of China’s most popular short-video service after ByteDance's Douyin saw its shares almost triple on their debut on Friday, boosting its valuation to $179bn. That puts Kuaishou’s value close to that last sought by TikTok owner, and much bigger rival, ByteDance.

The startup’s debut marks a spectacular rise for the Chinese company from the 2020 price tag of $28.6bn ascribed to it by PitchBook.

Kuaishou's IPO has buoyed the total from first-time share sales in Asia in January to $13.3bn, the highest for the first month of the year in the region on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It comes as listings globally have also had a record-breaking start to the year thanks to a surge in SPAC listings, equities hitting fresh highs and hordes of retail traders flocking to markets.

Apart from setting an inviting precedent for ByteDance to take Douyin and other assets public to capitalise on booming investor demand for short-video companies, Kuaishou’s debut also paves the way for other listing hopefuls. Issuers, especially in the hot tech space, will likely want to take advantage of the current welcoming market window to float in the city.

A spate of US-traded Chinese companies listed are also set to continue the trend of secondary listings in Hong Kong. Chinese search engine giant Baidu is among those working on a share sale in the Asian financial hub that could raise at least $3.5bn, Bloomberg News has reported. Video service Bilibili, another Kuaishou rival, and Tencent Music Entertainment Group are also mulling a secondary listing in the city.

Other candidates for a Hong Kong listing sometime this year include JD.com's logistics unit, which is looking to raise about $5bn in a Hong Kong IPO, Bloomberg News reported last year.

Elsewhere in the region, the maker of Chang beer Thai Beverage said early on Friday it planned to list its brewery unit on the Singapore stock exchange, kicking off what could be the biggest IPO in the city-state in a decade.