In today's ExchangeWire news digest: China Mobile have raised USD$9bn (£6.6bn) in Shanghai listing; Tencent have divested holdings worth USD$3.01bn (£2.2bn) in Sea Ltd; OpenSea have raised USD$300m (£221.6m) in a Series C round.
China Mobile raise USD$9bn (£6.6bn) after pulling off mega Shanghai listing
Due to rules imposed during Donald Trump's presidency, China Mobile was added to an investment blocklist and kicked off the New York Stock Exchange. Just eight months later, the communications tech giant accomplished mainland China’s biggest listing in 10 years, raising USD$9bn (£6.6bn) in a blockbuster Shanghai listing on Wednesday. Shares closed slightly above their Shanghai offering price of CN¥57.58 (£6.69), which was more than 40% greater than the price of their existing Hong Kong-listed stakes - which rose 3.3% on Wednesday. Prior to their mega listing, China Mobile announced that they will buy back up to USD$12.6bn (£9.3bn) worth of their existing Hong Kong-listed shares on the market. They will use their recent stock sale to expand their 5G network.
China Mobile joins a list of companies who have thrived closer to home after being barred from the US stock market, including Hong Kong-based SenseTime. Although the AI platform had to postpone their IPO after fears that they had developed facial recognition to determine a users’ ethnicity, SenseTime’s stock was up 152% since they priced their IPO at HK$3.85 (£0.36) in December. They have since announced that they “strongly oppose” the allegations and “regret to have been caught in the middle of geopolitical tension.”
Tencent to divest shares in Shopee-parent Sea Ltd
The Shenzhen-based firm have shocked investors recently, with the divestment being the second in just two weeks after they slashed their stake in JD.com from 17% to 2.3%. Tencent announced that they will transfer HK$127.69bn (£12.1bn) worth of their shares in China's second-biggest e-commerce platform to shareholders.
NFTs soar as OpenSea close a USD$300m (£221.6m) Series C
It was reported that, in 2021, NFT sales totalled over USD$26.9bn (£19.9bn) worth of cryptocurrency, with OpenSea receiving over USD$16bn (£11.8bn) worth. The company announced they saw their transaction volume increase “600x” last year, amounting to the inclining success of the industry.
In further funding news, Indian commerce platform, Udaan, have raised USD$250m (£184.6m) supported by a range of new and existing backers. The firm announced the news in an internal email, seen by TechCrunch, confirming they had raised USD$200m (£147.7m) via a convertible note and the remaining as debt. Although the participants were not disclosed, sources close to the matter revealed that Tor Investment and Arena Investors could be among those who invested, according to reports.
Also in the news:
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