JD JD com Inc

By Joanne Chiu 

Chinese e-commerce group JD.com Inc. is considering following larger rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in a market debut in Hong Kong.

Securing this deal despite market turmoil would be a victory for the Hong Kong stock exchange, which is eager to become a major venue for Chinese technology stocks.

In November, Alibaba completed a secondary listing in the city, which eventually raised about $13 billion including a so-called overallotment option.

Bankers and investors had expected more U.S. listed-Chinese companies to do the same. Other major Chinese tech groups with New York-traded shares include search engine-operator Baidu, online travel specialist Trip.com, and NetEase, China's second-biggest gaming firm.

JD.com has hired Bank of America and UBS Group AG for help arranging a secondary listing in Hong Kong, people familiar with the situation said. The likely timetable or size of any fundraising couldn't be learned. The banks' engagement was earlier reported by Hong Kong Economic Journal.

The two investment banks have a long working relationship with the company, underwriting its 2014 initial public offering on the Nasdaq.

For JD.com, a Hong Kong listing would allow it to get closer to its home market and investors who have a better understanding of its business model, one of the people said.

JD.com shares have more than doubled from the offering price of $19 each. It has a $58 billion market capitalization, making it the largest U.S.-listed Chinese tech company after Alibaba.

Earlier this month, JD.com said it expected net first-quarter sales would grow at least 10% compared with a year earlier. Net revenue in the previous quarter beat analysts' expectations, rising 26.6% to 170.7 billion yuan ($24.4 billion). The company said that was thanks to strong sales on Singles Day, an annual Chinese shopping bonanza similar to Black Friday, and to robust user growth.

In April last year, a college student filed a civil lawsuit against JD.com founder and Chief Executive Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu. In 2018, she had accused him of rape but prosecutors declined to charge him.

Write to Joanne Chiu at joanne.chiu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 16, 2020 05:31 ET (09:31 GMT)

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