Tencent Music shares open at HK$18 each in Hong Kong debut

By Scott Murdoch and Donny Kwok

HONG KONG (Reuters) -China’s Tencent Music Entertainment Group shares started trading at HK$18 ($2.29) each in the company’s Hong Kong listing debut on Wednesday.

The online music company announced last week that while New York would remain its primary listing venue it would start trading its shares in Hong Kong.

The company carried out a listing by introduction which means no new shares or fresh capital was raised in the transaction.

Tencent Music said one of its U.S.-listed shares represented two of its Hong Kong shares. The opening price was flat compared to its U.S. stock which closed in New York on Tuesday at $4.58.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 1.3% in early trade Wednesday and the tech index is off 1.5%.

Tencent Music’s U.S. stock is down 33.1% so far in 2022, hit by negative sentiment towards Chinese tech stocks amid a regulatory crackdown on the sector.

The company became the latest in a string of U.S.-listed Chinese firms to opt for a second listing in Hong Kong to offset the threat of being delisted in New York due to a bilateral dispute between Washington and Beijing over access to auditing papers.

The two sides recently struck a deal to end the decade-long stand off and U.S. officials have arrived in Hong Kong to start reviewing U.S.-listed Chinese companies.

Tencent Music has a market capitalisation of $7.76 billion.

($1 = 7.8496 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch and Donny Kwok; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Stephen Coates)