Bilibili’s Dual-Primary Listing Application for Hong Kong Approved
Bilibili, a Chinese video streaming platform popular among younger generations, announced on Monday that the company had applied to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) for the proposed voluntary conversion of its secondary listing status on April 29, 2022, receiving formal approval.
Bilibili announced on March 16 that it would pursue voluntary conversion for a dual-primary listing on the Main Board of the HKEx. At that time, Bilibili said that the dual listing plan took into account the significant increase in turnover of the company’s shares on the HKEx since its second listing in Hong Kong, the links between Hong Kong and its major business operations in China, and also its long-term business development and prospects.
Monday’s announcement revealed that the proposed conversion is expected to take effect on October 3 of this year. After that, Bilibili will be dually listed on the HKEx and Nasdaq.
On April 22, 2022, Zhihu, China’s largest online Q&A platform, became the first Chinese internet company to return to Hong Kong by means of dual major listing on the HKEx. Dual listings need to meet the regulatory requirements in both locales. The listing process is more complicated and stricter as a whole, and it also requires more time and funds.
Bilibili also released a performance forecast on Monday. It now expects revenue in the first quarter of 2022 to be between 5 billion yuan ($757 million) and 5.1 billion yuan, while it previously expected it to be between 5.3 billion yuan and 5.5 billion yuan.