Latham & Watkins Advises Underwriters in Trip.com’s US$1.07 Billion Hong Kong Secondary Listing
Latham & Watkins LLP advised the underwriters in the secondary listing and US$1.07 billion initial public offering of Trip.com, a leading one-stop travel platform globally, on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX). Trip.com is the first travel platform to be listed on both the US and Hong Kong stock markets, and the IPO comes against a backdrop of increasing demand from US-listed Chinese companies for secondary listings in Hong Kong.
Trip.com’s global offering consisted of approximately 31.6 million shares (subject to the over-allotment option) sold at a final offer price of HK$268.00 per share. JP Morgan Securities (Far East) Limited, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited, and Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. acted as the joint sponsors in the offering.
Trip.com is a one-stop travel platform integrating a comprehensive suite of travel products and services and differentiated travel content, and is primary listed on the Nasdaq market. The company plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to fund the expansion of its travel offerings and improve user experience, as well as invest in technology to bolster its market leading position and improve operating efficiency.
The Latham & Watkins cross-border team supported the underwriters to navigate the complex legal and regulatory requirements across both the US and Hong Kong, assisting with the execution of the offering within a very tight time frame.
Latham & Watkins LLP represented the underwriters in the transaction. The team was led by Hong Kong based corporate partners Terris Tang, Daying Zhang, Benjamin Su, and Cathy Yeung, with associates Chimmy Tao, Alex Lai, Jonathan Leung, and Xinchen Tao. US regulatory advice was provided by Washington D.C.-based partners Alex Cohen and Paul Dudek, and New York partner Dana Fleischman. Hong Kong regulatory advice was provided by Hong Kong-based corporate partner Simon Hawkins and advice on tax matters was provided by Los Angeles based partner Samuel Weiner.