Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
Chinese Firms Are Listing in the U.S. at a
Record-Breaking Pace
Julia Fioretti and John Cheng
Bloomberg Sat., April 24, 2021, 2:00 p.m.
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese companies are listing in the U.S. at the fastest pace ever, brushing off tensions between the world’s two biggest economies and the continued risk of being kicked off American exchanges.
Firms from the mainland and Hong Kong have raised $6.6 billion through initial public offerings in the U.S. this year, a record start to a year and an eightfold increase from the same period in 2020, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The largest IPO is the $1.6 billion listing of e-cigarette maker RLX Technology Inc., followed by the $947 million offering of software company Tuya Inc.
That’s even as Sino-U.S. tensions show few signs of easing and the threat of Chinese firms being delisted from U.S. exchanges remains. In fact, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said last month it would begin implementing a law forcing accounting firms to let U.S. regulators review the financial audits of overseas companies. Non-compliance could result in a delisting from the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.
The risk for mainland firms is high given China has long refused to let U.S. regulators examine audits of its overseas-listed companies on national security concerns.
“They would acknowledge this is a potential risk, and if something happens they might need to get prepared for a rainy day,” said Stephanie Tang, head of private equity for Greater China at law firm Hogan Lovells. “But the risk itself would not prohibit those companies from going to the U.S., at least in the second half of this year or probably toward next year.”
Despite all the risks, the pipeline continues to grow, setting up 2021 to potentially exceed last year. Chinese firms raised almost $15 billion through U.S. IPOs in 2020, the second highest on record after 2014, when e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. fetched $25 billion in its float.
Didi Chuxing has filed confidentially for a multi-billion-dollar U.S. IPO that could value the Chinese ride-hailing giant at as much as $100 billion, Bloomberg News has reported. Uber-like trucking startup Full Truck Alliance is also working on a U.S. listing this year that could raise about $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private.
“Chinese companies in the new economy do not seem to have been deterred from seeking U.S. listings despite the ongoing tensions,” said Calvin Lai, a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. “They take that as one of the risks but that doesn’t tilt the pendulum.”
Additional share sales by Chinese companies have also been well-received in the U.S. this year, delivering an average return of 11% from their offering prices in the following session, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
And while rival financial centers like Hong Kong have in recent years changed their listing rules to make it easier for new economy firms to go public there, that has not stopped the flow of firms going stateside. In fact, the traffic now goes both ways, with U.S.-traded Chinese firms getting a second listing in Hong Kong to expand their investor base and as a hedge against the delisting risk.
Such secondary listings raised almost $17 billion last year and have fetched over $8 billion this year already, Bloomberg data show. Bankers said many companies go to the U.S. knowing they can subsequently list in Hong Kong.
For example, Didi is also exploring a potential dual offering in Hong Kong later, a person familiar with the matter has said, while Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng Inc. is also looking into a share sale in the financial hub less than a year after going public in New York.
U.S. capital markets have long attracted Chinese companies for a number of reasons: their greater liquidity, broader investor base, and the cachet associated with a U.S. listing. Technology and fintech firms have flocked to the U.S. because of its more streamlined process as well as greater openness to loss-making businesses.
“The U.S. still remains a magnet for the IPOs of Chinese technology companies,” Tang said. “Just in terms of the pipeline, I don’t see any pause to that. I think the pipeline is very strong.”
Translation
（彭博社）- 中國公司正在以有史以來最快的速度在美國上市，從而減退了世界上兩個最大經濟體之間的緊張關係, 以及被美國交易所拋棄的持續風險。
彭博彙編的數據顯示，今年以來，來自中國內地和香港的公司, 通過在美國的首次公開募股（IPO）籌集了66億美元，創下一年以來的新高，比2020年同期增長了八倍。最大的IPO是電子煙製造商RLX Technology Inc.的16億美元上市，其次是軟件公司Tuya Inc的9.47億美元發行。
即使中美之間的緊張關係幾乎沒有緩解的跡象，及中國公司從美國交易所退市的威脅依然存, 在美國的募股繼續。實際上，美國證券交易委員會上個月表示，它將開始實施一項法律，強制會計公司讓美國監管機構審查海外公司的財務審計。不遵守規定可能導致從紐約證券交易所或納斯達克除牌。
鑑於中國長期以國家安全為理由, 一直拒絕美國監管機構審查其在海外上市的公司對的擔憂，因此內地公司的風險很高。
Hogan Lovells律師事務所大中華區私募股權主管Stephanie Tang說： “他們承認這是潛在的風險，如果發生某些事情，他們可能需要為將來可能遇到的困難做好準備。” “但這種風險本身不會阻止這些公司至少在今年下半年或至到明年進入美國。”
儘管存在所有風險，因管道仍在繼續增長，使2021年將有可能超過去年。在
2020年，中國企業通過美國IPO籌集了近150億美元，是2014年之後的第二高紀錄。當時電商巨頭阿里巴巴集團控股有限公司（Alibaba
Group Holding Ltd.）的流通量達到250億美元。
彭博新聞社報導，滴滴出行(Didi)已秘密提交了數十億美元的美國IPO申請，可能使這家中國網約車巨頭的估值高達1000億美元。因為此事是不公開的, 要求不透露姓名的知情人士說，類似Uber的卡車運輸初創公司Full Truck Alliance今年也在美國上市，籌資約20億美元。
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer合夥人Calvin Lai表示： “儘管經濟形勢持續緊張，但新經濟中的中國公司似乎並沒有受到阻撓。” “他們認為這是風險之一，但這不會使進程改變。”
彭博彙編的數據顯示，今年以來，中國公司在美國進行的額外股票銷售也受到了廣泛好評，其下一個交易日的發行價平均回報率為11％。
而且，儘管近年來像香港這樣的競爭對手的金融中心, 已經更改了上市規則，以使新經濟公司更容易在當地上市，但這並沒有阻止公司向美國境內的流動。實際上，交易是雙向的，在美國上市的中資公司, 有在香港第二次上市以擴大投資者基礎，並作為對沖可能要退市風險的工具。
知情人士說，例如滴滴出行亦探索稍後將在香港進行可能的雙重發行，而中國電動汽車製造商小鵬汽車（Xpeng Inc.）在紐約在上市不到一年的時間, 也探索這在金融中心進行股票出售。
長期以來，美國資本市場吸引了中國公司，原因有很多：它們的流動性更高，投資者基礎更廣泛以及與在美國上市帶來的聲望。技術和金融科技公司之所以蜂擁而至，是因為其流程更加簡化，並且對虧損企業持開放態度。
Stephanie Tang說： “美國仍然吸引著中國科技公司的首次公開募股。” “就管道而言，我認為這沒有任何停止。我認為管道是非常強勁。”
So, Chinese
companies are listing in the U.S. at the fastest pace ever despite the
political tensions between the two countries. U.S. capital markets have long
attracted Chinese companies because of the markets’ greater liquidity, broader
investor base, and the cachet associated with a U.S. listing. I think the
trustworthiness of US markets in terms of transparency and law enforcement etc.
are also factors that attract investment globally.
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