Lalamove's parent seeks listing amid upturn

June Chen

Lalatech, the parent company of Chinese on-demand logistics and delivery firm Lalamove, applied for a listing in Hong Kong for the fourth time, as more giants are expected to go public in the city following the surge in Chinese equities.

The company swung to a net profit in the first half by minting US$183 million (HK$1.4 billion), compared with a deficit of US$33.48 million in the same period last year.

Lalatech operates in more than 400 cities in 11 markets around the world, with China being its biggest market. Lalamove is also known as Huolala in the mainland.

In the third quarter, Hong Kong moved back to fourth place in the global initial public offering race, after Nasdaq, New York and India in terms of raising capital, buoyed by the listing of Chinese home appliance maker Midea (0300) last month, which was the world's second-largest IPO so far this year, according to KPMG.

The accounting organization expects more big listings in Hong Kong after Chinese equities surged on Beijing's big stimulus package which included interest rate cuts, lowering reserve requirements and an 800 billion yuan (HK$885.28 billion) war chest to support stock market liquidity.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) yesterday suggested releasing listing rules and lowering stamp duty on shares in the city yesterday, to improve Hong Kong's status as an international financial hub.

Hong Kong has had 45 listings this year, collectively raising HK$55.6 billion. The amount of fundraising and the number of IPOs surged by 123 percent and 2 percent year-on-year respectively, according to KPMG.

In other IPO news, Jingdong Industrials, a supply chain technology unit of e-commerce operator JD.com (9618) has applied to go public in the city.

And Zhejiang Taimei Medical Technology (2576) closed the retail book for its IPO yesterday.

The medical software provider plans to set its offering share price today, with the market price range from HK$10.0 to HK$13.0 apiece.

The company is looking to raise up to HK$290 million amid the resurgent stock market and intends to debut on October 7.