JD Health’s strong IPO performance indicates that the market is still open for prospective issuers after Ant’s IPO was abruptly scuttled earlier this year.
The healthcare affiliate of Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com debuted on the Hong Kong exchange in the second-biggest IPO of 2020 on the bourse. JD.com‘s secondary listing in Hong Kong in June this year was biggest on the exchange, in which JD.com bagged US$3.9 billion.
JD Health priced its shares at US$9.11 (HK$70.58) apiece. The company raised net proceeds of around US$3.41 billion (HK$26.5 billion) excluding the over-allotment option, according to the official press release. According to a Bloomberg report, the IPO puts JD Health’s valuation at $28.5 billion.
Since it began trading today, JD Health’s share prices surged nearly 72% by around 3:35pm local time. As of 4:08pm local time, the company’s shares were trading at around $14.19 (HK$110)—over 55% higher than the issue price.
The IPO was backed by renowned investors including Hillhouse Capital, Tiger Global, Lake Bleu Prime, China Structural Reform Fund, GIC and BlackRock, according to a press release by China Renaissance, the exclusive financial advisor for the offering.
JD Health is China’s largest online healthcare platform by revenue, according to its prospectus. The press statement notes that JD Health is committed to creating a comprehensive online healthcare system. The aim is to create a wholistic service that caters to customers’ wide range of healthcare needs, the statement added.
The company’s offer price announcement document states that approximately 40% of the net IPO proceeds will be used for business expansion in the next three to five years. The remaining proceeds will be utilized for research and development, potential investments and acquisitions, and as working capital, the document notes.
According to the IPO prospectus, JD Health bagged revenues of over $2 billion (RMB13.2 billion) in the first three quarters of 2020 – an increase of 77.1% year-on-year. As of September 30, 2020 JD Health had 80 million users, nearly double the users it had in 2017, the press statement noted.
JD Health CEO Lijun Xin said in the statement, “2020 is not only an extraordinary year for everyone, but also a year in which JD Health creates social value and JD Health is recognized and understood by society.”
Commenting on the listing, he said, “JD Health will take the listing as an opportunity to do its utmost to promote the medical and health industry towards higher quality, more efficient, more inclusive and more sustainable development to provide convenient accessible and affordable medical and health products and services, and to be people’s chief health manager.”
JD Health’s strong performance signals to prospective issuers that the market is still open to IPOs, after the abrupt suspension of Ant Group’s record IPO last month. Moreover, it also demonstrates investor interest in the healthcare sector amidst the pandemic.
Additionally, JD Health’s Hong Kong IPO is also demonstrative of Chinese companies’ increasing interest in listing on the Hong Kong bourse. More Chinese companies are looking for listing options closer to home amid souring geo-political relations between China and the U.S.
JD.com remains the controlling shareholder of JD Health even after the IPO.
Header image courtesy of JD.com
