Chinese social media firm Weibo plans to price its shares at HK$272.80 ($35) each to raise $385 million in its Hong Kong secondary listing, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The sources could not be identified as the information has not yet been made public, and Weibo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Weibo’s US shares endured a torrid night on Wednesday as it was caught up in the broad selloff across the equities market which unfolded on fears about the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The stock closed down 9.5% – its lowest in almost a year. Hong Kong’s indicative pricing was a 2.7% discount to Weibo’s $36 closing price in New York trading on Wednesday.
The company is selling 5.5 million primary shares and Sina Corporation is selling 5.5 million secondary shares to take the total size of the deal to 11 million shares.
The stock will start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 8, according to Weibo’s listing documents.
Earlier this month, Weibo reported solid third-quarter results beginning with 30% year-on-year revenue growth to US$607 million, 2% above a panel of economists’ consensus.
“Resilient advertising demand from key verticals such as cosmetics, personal care, and food & beverage together with strong sales execution explain the healthy performance of advertising and marketing revenue despite macro headwinds,” China Construction Bank analysts Ronnie Ho and Cathy Chan said in a note.
Weibo, the Chinese-equivalent of Twitter, has 566 million monthly average users, according to the listing documents lodged with the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Its US-listed stock has experienced a volatile year like most foreign listed Chinese stocks and is down more than 12% for the year.
- Reuters, with George Russell
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