Maples Advises Zhihu Inc. on its Primary Dual Listing in Hong Kong
The Maples Group is pleased to have recently acted as Cayman Islands legal counsel to Zhihu Inc. (“Zhihu”), in relation to its global offering of 26,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. American Depositary Shares representing the Class A ordinary shares of Zhihu have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since March 2021. The offering closed on 22 April 2022 and raised approximately HK$833.6 million. Notably, Zhihu is the first Chinese internet company to have completed a dual primary listing in Hong Kong and the United States with a weighted voting rights structure.
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Backed by Tencent, Zhihu is the largest Q&A-inspired online community and one of the top five comprehensive online content communities in China.
The Group’s Hong Kong legal team led by Corporate Partner, Karen Zhang Pallaras with assistance from Associate, Jessica Zhan advised Zhihu on the Cayman Islands legal aspects of the transaction. The Group’s Fund Services team comprising, Eastern Fong, Regional Head of Fund Services – Asia and Christy Poon, Senior Vice President, acted as the Cayman Islands share registrar.
Karen Zhang Pallaras commented: “We are delighted to have assisted on Zhihu’s landmark dual primary listing in Hong Kong. The dual listings of successful and high-growth ‘new economy’ Chinese companies in recent years have helped to diversify the Hong Kong market. Listing in Hong Kong provides a gateway for such issuers to grow their investor base in China, and the introduction of the amendments to the Listing Rules for issuers contemplating a dual listing in Hong Kong that became effective earlier this year will make Hong Kong an even more attractive capital-raising hub for foreign-listed Chinese issuers.”
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as legal advisers to Zhihu as to Hong Kong and US laws and Han Kun Law Offices as to PRC law. Clifford Chance acted as Hong Kong counsel and Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as PRC counsel respectively to the joint sponsors Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, CICC and CMB International, and the underwriters.
The Maples Group is a market leader in supporting Chinese technology companies on their successful secondary listings and dual primary listings in Hong Kong, including Alibaba, JD.com, NetEase, Baidu, Trip.com and more recently Li Auto.