Feb 5, 2021 - Economy

Shares of TikTok rival Kuaishou soar after biggest tech IPO since 2019

Dan Primack

A gif shows an ambition of several cursor-like hands, moving in and out, pointing at the stars from the Chinese flag — Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

Kuaishou, a Chinese short-video and livestreaming app, raised $5.4 billion in its IPO. Its shares then nearly tripled in Friday trading, pumping the company’s valuation to $159 billion.

Why it matters: It's the largest global IPO in over a year, and the largest global tech IPO since Uber in May 2019. Plus, it means Kuaishou is now valued just a TikTok short of rival ByteDance.

Return on investment: Kuaishou has raised over $4 billion from firms like Sequoia Capital China, DCM, Morningside VC, DST Global, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Temasek, Boyu Capital and Shunwei Capital.

The bottom line: "Kuaishou's listing will be a test of appetite for Chinese technology firms just as Beijing steps up its scrutiny of the sector in areas from anti-monopoly to data protection. In November, the Chinese government introduced rules around live-streaming shopping, which could impact Kuaishou," CNBC's Arjun Kharpal writes.

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Shares of TikTok rival Kuaishou soar after biggest tech IPO since 2019

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