E-COMMERCE retailer JD.com Inc. has hired Bank of America and UBS to work on a second listing in Hong Kong, the latest to join the queue of Chinese companies expected to follow Alibaba to trade closer to home, Reuters quoted two sources with direct knowledge as saying yeseterday.

The listing could happen as early as mid-2020, said the sources.

JD.com, whose current market capitalization is at US$58.2 billion, did not immediately respond to a query for comment.

JD.com’s secondary listing comes as China is gradually recovering from a coronavirus outbreak in January.

Rival Alibaba warned in mid-February of a drop in revenues at its key e-commerce businesses in the first quarter as the coronavirus sweeping China hits supply chains and deliveries.

JD.com contrarily forecast revenues to rise by at least 10 percent for the same quarter, benefiting from partnerships with supermarkets for delivering fresh produce and groceries to shoppers choosing to stay indoors due to fears of infection.

Alibaba raised US$12.9 billion in Hong Kong in November, which was the city’s largest deal since 2010 and the world’s biggest ever cross-border secondary listing, prompting a number of U.S.-traded Chinese companies to follow suit, including online travel giant Ctrip and Internet companies NetEase Inc. and Baidu Inc.

Companies however have not been able to conduct face-to-face meetings with advisers or potential investors due to travel restrictions linked with the outbreak.

JD.com has kicked off preparations for the second listing some time ago, said one of the sources. It is not yet clear when the company will file for the listing.

JD’s total net revenue rose 27 percent to 170.68 billion yuan (US$25 billion) in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.

(SD-Agencies)