Momo Developer Hello Group Plans Second Listing in Hong Kong

Hello Group (formerly known as Momo Inc.), a platform that started as a place to meet strangers, is planning a second listing in Hong Kong. Chinese media outlet Jiemian News reported on Monday that this listing will be sponsored by Goldman Sachs and China International Capital Corporation Limited. Hello Group declined to comment on the report.

According to people familiar with the matter, the second listing is a new idea. If the listing goes smoothly, the company may be able to go public within the next six months to a year.

Hello Group has been listed in the U.S. for 7 years. On December 12, 2014, the company was listed on the Nasdaq, with Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. as underwriters. The group owns a variety of smartphone apps such as Momo, Tantan and Hertz, as well as diversified businesses including film production and distribution, program production, and financial investment.

According to company data released in September 2021, the company had 115.5 million monthly active users, up 1.6% year-on-year.

Its financial report shows that its net revenue in the third quarter of 2021 was $580 million, down 0.2% year-on-year, and its net profit was $62.6 million, down 11.8% year-on-year. For total revenue, Momo and Tantan accounted for 86.4% and 13.6% respectively.

In addition, the total number of paying users of Momo‘s live-streaming and value-added services in the third quarter of 2021 was 12.2 million, of which 2.9 million were derived from Tantan, compared with 13.1 million and 4.1 million respectively in the same period of 2020.

Besides its existing businesses, Hello Group is striving to move forward. In July, 2021, the group planned to launch an app named Shumei (“raspberry” in Chinese), which aimed to capitalize on young people’s sharing and recommending needs. The move marked an attempt to challenge Xiaohongshu‘s dominant position in the domestic field of online social networking and content sharing, especially since the app’s user interface appears very similar to that of Xiaohongshu. The homepage of the app recommends notes shared daily by users in an easy-to-peruse grid format. Users can share their own notes by clicking the plus sign at the bottom to create a new note.

SEE ALSO: Momo to Launch Content Sharing App Called Shumei, Targeting Younger Generations