KUAISHOU Technology, the main rival to ByteDance Ltd. in China, is seeking to raise as much as US$5.4 billion in Hong Kong in what would be the world’s biggest Internet initial public offering (IPO) since Uber Technologies Inc.

The short video startup, backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd., is selling 365 million shares at HK$105 (US$13.54) to HK$115 each, according to terms of the deal. The company started taking investor orders from yesterday through Jan. 29 and is slated to list Feb. 5.

Kuaishou is attempting the world’s biggest Internet IPO since Uber’s US$8.1 billion U.S. share sale in May 2019. The Chinese startup’s IPO will also give another boost to Hong Kong’s already-hot capital market and could become Asia’s largest since Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC Ltd.’s US$5.8 billion float almost two years ago.

Kuaishou is one of China’s biggest Internet success stories of the past decade, part of a generation of startups that thrived with backing from Tencent.

Along with TikTok parent ByteDance, the outfit co-created by Su Hua in 2013 pioneered the livestreaming and bite-sized video format that’s since been adopted around the world by the likes of Facebook Inc. Kuaishou’s imminent debut could test investor appetite for its far larger rival, which was last valued at US$180 billion.

The offering of Kuaishou has attracted 10 cornerstone investors, who agreed to subscribe for US$2.45 billion in stock, based on the mid-point of the marketed range. The lineup includes The Capital Group, Temasek Holdings Pte, GIC Pte, BlackRock Inc. and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the terms show. The cornerstone investors have agreed to hold stock for six months in exchange for early, guaranteed allocation.

The valuation of Kuaishou could more than double after its Hong Kong IPO. A top-end pricing will value the Chinese firm at US$60.9 billion, up from the US$28.6 billion it achieved in a funding round last year, according to Pitchbook. Even at the low-end of range, Kuaishou will still be valued at US$55.6 billion.

ByteDance has long been a rumored IPO candidate but was bogged down last year in fighting a U.S. ban on TikTok after the video service was labeled a “national security threat.” The social media giant was in discussions to raise US$2 billion before listing some of its businesses in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reported in November. (SD-Agencies)