FULL Truck Alliance, an Uber-like trucking startup, is preparing a dual primary listing in Hong Kong in 2022 that could raise about US$1 billion, said sources with knowledge of the matter, joining a wave of share sales in the city by U.S.-listed Chinese mainland companies.

Full Truck raised nearly US$1.6 billion in its New York initial public offering in June, making it the second-largest U.S. listing of a Chinese company this year.

The Guiyang-based startup, known as Manbang in Chinese, seeks to launch the Hong Kong float as soon as early next year, said the sources. The fundraising target is dependent on market conditions and the trading of its American depositary shares at the time, one of the sources added.

Backed by high-profile investors including SoftBank’s Vision Fund and Tencent Holdings, Full Truck is pursuing the Hong Kong listing at a time when it remains under a cybersecurity probe from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

The CAC said in early July it was scrutinizing Full Truck and online recruiter Khanzhun Ltd., owner of Zhipin.com, alongside ride-hailing group Didi Global Inc. as part of investigations aiming to “prevent national data security risks and safeguard national security.”

All three companies went public in New York in June.

Full Truck’s planned float shows that such firms are still exploring fundraising opportunities in Hong Kong, despite a dour outlook for their shares in the current regulatory environment.

A growing number of New York-listed Chinese firms have already either wholly or partially reduced their exposure to U.S. bourses by going private or returning to stock markets closer to home via second listings.

Full Truck, formed in 2017 out of a merger between two digital freight platforms Yunmanman and Huochebang, runs a mobile app that connects truck drivers to people that need to ship items within China.

The firm posted net revenue of 2.58 billion yuan (US$403 million) in 2020, with its net loss widening to 3.47 billion yuan from 1.52 billion yuan in 2019.

Manbang has been facing stiffening competition as rivals try to win a slice of an evolving market. Giants from car-hailing leader Didi Chuxing Technology Co. to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. are introducing technology to streamline shipping, connecting merchants with truckers and delivery firms. (SD-Agencies)