Cloud Village Inc, the music streaming arm of Chinese gaming giant NetEase Inc (網易), is postponing the launch of a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) that was set to raise about US$1 billion, people familiar with the matter have said.
The unit tested demand for its offering last week, but is not going ahead with taking investor orders, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is not public.
It intends to wait for better market conditions, one of the people said.
Photo: Reuters
At an expected size of about US$1 billion, Cloud Village’s IPO would be one of the biggest potential first-time share sales in Hong Kong by a technology company this year.
IFR first reported the delay yesterday. A representative for the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A widening campaign by Beijing to rein in its tech and Internet sectors has spurred a sharp sell-off in Chinese technology giants from Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) to Kuaishou Technology (快手).
The regulatory onslaught at one point wiped out more than US$1 trillion of market value from Chinese stocks.
Since the start of last month, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index has shed 18 percent, while the NASDAQ Golden Dragon Index, which tracks US-listed Chinese companies, has declined 24 percent in the same period.
Cloud Village’s parent NetEase was also swept up in the selling after Chinese state media criticized the games industry, leading investors to look for the firms next in line for scrutiny.
The gaming company’s Hong Kong shares pared recent losses yesterday, advancing as much as 4.7 percent after the Cloud Village news. They have fallen about 9 percent since July 30.
Listings in the territory have slowed down sharply in the past month, due to the rocky markets as well as the usual summer lull.
Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto Inc (理想汽車) raised US$1.5 billion in a dual primary listing last week, but other than that there have been no major offerings since June.
The Chinese government’s efforts have resulted in most, if not all, planned US IPOs by mainland firms being put on hold. Last month, Beijing proposed new rules increasing its supervision of overseas IPOs in a move aimed at safeguarding data security.
A number of companies, like on-demand logistics and delivery firm Lalamove (貨拉拉), are considering shifting their IPOs to Hong Kong given the increasing oversight, Bloomberg News reported.
TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動) is reviving plans to list in Hong Kong by early next year even as Chinese authorities widen their crackdown on the country’s technology companies, the Financial Times reported.
The listing could take place either next quarter or in early next year, the paper said in a report on Sunday, citing three unidentified people with knowledge of the plans.
ByteDance has been working on addressing data security concerns raised by Chinese regulators, the paper reported.
It is going through a review process and has submitted filings to Chinese authorities, and final guidance is expected from ByteDance by next month, one of the people was cited as saying.
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
STILL UNCLEAR: Several aspects of the policy still need to be clarified, such as whether the exemptions would expand to related products, PwC Taiwan warned The TAIEX surged yesterday, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping 100 percent tariff on imported semiconductors — while exempting companies operating or building plants in the US, which includes TSMC. The benchmark index jumped 556.41 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 24,003.77, breaching the 24,000-point level and hitting its highest close this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. TSMC rose NT$55, or 4.89 percent, to close at a record NT$1,180, as the company is already investing heavily in a multibillion-dollar plant in Arizona that led investors to assume
RSS