Chinese music streaming company Tencent Music Entertainment Group said on Thursday it will begin trading shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange starting next week. TME, which owns streaming platforms QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo, plus karaoke app WeSing, is already publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the U.S. (ticker: TME), and its decision to add shares on the Hong Kong exchange follows a similar move by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Geopolitical tensions with China over access to companies’ auditing documents have stirred some U.S. lawmakers to call for Chinese companies to be kicked off New York’s stock exchanges. Tencent is the latest in a string of Chinese companies to list in Hong Kong as a means to offset the risk of possibly being delisted in the U.S.
This summer, Alibaba announced plans to launch a dual primary listing in Hong Kong, taking advantage of a new rule change that allows U.S.-listed Chinese tech companies listed to also issue primary shares in Hong Kong.
Tencent Music will continue to be primarily traded on the NYSE. Its secondary shares on the Hong Kong stock market will begin trading under the code 1698.HK starting next Wednesday, the company said in a statement.
Mainland China investors will not have access to Tencent Music’s secondary shares via China’s Stock Connect — a link that gives Chinese investors access to the Hong Kong exchange.
One of the most anticipated IPOs of the year when it went public in 2018, Tencent Music’s stock has fallen nearly 30% this year, as the market downturn has weighed heavily on tech stocks. (Also listed on NYSE, shares of Alibaba are off nearly 25% this year, while Spotify’s stock is down nearly 58%.)
