JD.com Telemedicine Arm Raises $3.5B From Hong Kong's Largest IPO In 2020: WSJ

China’s e-commerce giant JD.Com Inc JD telemedicine unit, JD Health, becomes Hong Kong’s largest initial public offering in 2020 and Asia’s largest healthcare IPO, raising $3.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports.

What Happened: JD Health operates China’s largest online retail pharmacy and provides other healthcare services. It plans to use IPO proceeds to fund business expansion.

The company priced at the top end of its expected range of HK$70.58. Underwriting banks have the option to exercise additional stock after trading that could take the IPO proceeds to more than $4 billion. The IPO values JD Health at $28.5 billion.

Why It Matters: Hong Kong’s capital market is red hot, with 120 companies raising $44.6 billion in IPO and secondary listings this year, the highest since 2010 -- WSJ.

According to Jie Lu, head of investments for China at Robeco, Hong Kong remains a significant financial hub for Chinese companies to raise capital. Despite the protests and geopolitical tensions, Beijing wouldn’t want to close “this important window for international investors to access China,” Lu told WSJ.

The listing bodes well for JD.com’s billionaire founder Richard Liu.

Price Action: JD shares are trading lower by 1.58% at $84.01 in the pre-market session on the last check Wednesday.