Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Han Kun Law Offices have advised Chinese property platform KE Holdings on its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with Davis Polk & Wardwell and Jingtian & Gongcheng counselling the joint sponsors.
KE, an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services, has become the second New York-listed company recently to carry out a “listing by introduction” in Hong Kong, according to Reuters, following a similar move by electric vehicle manufacturer Nio Inc in March.
In a listing by introduction, a company does not issue new shares or raise fresh capital, unlike a traditional IPO, Reuters added.
The company’s decision to list on HKSE, which is a dual primary listing, came after KE Holdings was added on April 22 by the U.S. authorities to the list of companies that could be delisted from American exchanges if they did not allow U.S. auditors to access their accounts, Reuters said.
The Freshfields team was led by partners Teresa Ko and David Yi. A team from Harneys advising the issuer on offshore law was led by partners Calamus Huang and Vicky Lord.