KE is the first in China to gain a dual primary listing by way of introduction on the main board of the HKSE
China’s largest housing transaction platform KE Holdings (Chinese: 贝壳) (BEKE: NYSE) announced on May 5 its dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with Goldman Sachs and CICC being the co-sponsors.
KE proposes to list its Class A shares in HK at USD 0.00002 apiece by way of introduction. The company’s American depositary shares (ADSs) will remain to be primarily listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Beijing-based real estate brokerage is the latest US-listed Chinese enterprise to return to Hong Kong, following other giants like Alibaba, JD.com, and Baidu. A dual primary listing will provide investors with more flexible options of trading sites and time, as well as offer the company a risk-averse solution to the potential delisting from US exchanges.
KE Holdings received the in-principle approval from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on May 4. The firm expects its shares to commence trading on May 11 under the ticker symbol “2423.”
KE posted a revenue of CNY 46 billion (USD 6.96 billion), CNY 70.5 billion, and CNY 80.8 billion in 2019, 2020, and 2021, and an adjusted net profit of CNY 775 million, CNY 5 billion, and CNY 1 billion.
According to the announcement, Yongdong Peng, co-founder, chairman and CEO of KE, holds 4.8% of the stocks. Another co-founder Yigang Shan holds 2.7%, and Tencent (NNND: FRA; 0700: HK) owns 10.8%.