Nasdaq: Bilibili to raise over $2 billion in Hong Kong | 2020-21 NBA

Bilibili (Chinese video platform) is getting ready for a secondary listing in Hong Kong that could raise more than $2 billion, higher than planned last year, a source close to the issue told CNBC.

Bilibili, which is currently classified on the Nasdaq, is expected to file for Hong Kong public offerings at the end of this week or early next week, the source said. The filing will not include any pricing information. They're going to be in the next two months, the person said.

CNBC estimated last year that the service popular with Chinese millennials could raise between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. But in the previous 12 months, its Nasdaq-listed shares have risen by more than 300 per cent—a reason behind Bilibil's increasing the amount of money it is trying to raise in Hong Kong, the source said.

Bilibili was not immediately available for comments when contacted by CNBC.

Several U.S.-listed Chinese companies have switched to Hong Kong for secondary listings over the last 14 months, including Alibaba, JD.com and NetEase.

Continued tensions between the US-China have challenged the Wall Street-listed Chinese firms. In December, President Donald Trump signed legislation threatening to remove companies that do not comply with American auditing requirements.

That could be one of the motives behind the growth of secondary listings in Hong Kong.

Bilibili went public to Nasdaq in 2018 at $11.50 per American Depositary Share (ADS) to collect $483 million. Its stock closed at $94.74 apiece on Monday, increasing more than 700% since its initial public offering.

The video platform is targeted at younger generations of China, and mobile games are its main revenue generator. Bilibili also hosts live broadcasts during which users can purchase virtual objects. It's still making money from ads.

Third-quarter 2020 sales amounted to 3.22 billion yuan, or $475.1 million, based on the exchange rate on the official announcement of earnings. That was 74 per cent of year-on-year growth.

Rather than showing Netflix-style, Bilibili relies on user-generated content, similar to YouTube.