Chinese delivery firm ZTO Express jumps 9% in HK secondary listing
CGTN
A ZTO Express service center in southernmost Chinese province Hainan, September 17, 2020. /VCG

A ZTO Express service center in southernmost Chinese province Hainan, September 17, 2020. /VCG

Shares of Chinese delivery firm ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc opened at HK$244 each on Tuesday, up 11.9 percent from the offer price as the stock debuted in Hong Kong, sending its market valuation above HK$200 billion.

The New York-listed firm sold 45 million shares in its secondary listing in the city, raising $1.27 billion to build more sorting hubs, expand capacity, strengthen network stability and competitiveness.

ZTO was the first Chinese courier service company listed in the U.S. It raised $1.4 billion in the 2016 New York listing.

Shares of ZTO Express softened slightly the first day of trading to HK$238, but still up 9.2 percent.

Lai Meisong, Chairman of ZTO, holds a 27.3-percent stake in the firm with 78.4-percent voting rights, while Alibaba Group Holding holds 8.7-percent shares with 2.65-percent voting rights as a second-largest shareholder.

ZTO is one of the Chinese companies that was originally listed in the United States and carried out secondary offering in Hong Kong this year, joining the "homecoming" secondary listing trend following e-commerce giant JD.com, internet company NetEase, and fast-food restaurant company Yum China.

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Decoding 'Homecoming': Secondary offering trend of U.S.-listed Chinese companies

There have been 10 secondary listings in Hong Kong in 2020 that have raised $15.1 billion, according to Refinitiv.

(With input from Reuters)