What’s new: Zhihu Inc., the Chinese question-and-answer forum, denied media reports that it was about to undertake a secondary listing in Hong Kong, saying the company had not heard the news.
Citing state-owned news outlet The Paper, Bloomberg reported Saturday that the Beijing-based company plans to submit documents for a share offering in Hong Kong in January.
Public records showed that several of Zhihu’s major shareholders, including Sogou Inc. and a company associated with Tencent Holdings Ltd. have sold off their investments, leaving Zhihu’s Chief Executive Officer Zhou Yuan and Chief Technology Officer Li Dahai as the company’s only two shareholders, with Zhou holding a 99.3% stake.
Responding the questions about the change, Zhihu said it was merely a standard management practice.
Background: Zhihu’s share price has fallen 37.9% since it closed at $8.50 after its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange in March. It closed at $5.28 on Thursday.
For the third quarter, Zhihu’s net loss widened by 145% to $42 million from a year earlier, despite revenue growth of 115%, according to Zhihu’s latest unaudited earnings. Its average number of monthly active users rose 40% year-on-year to 101.2 million.
Last week, China’s cyberspace regulator summoned Zhihu executives to discuss the company’s practice of repeatedly allowing the publication of what it described as “illegal information” on its site. Regulators have also filed a case against Zhihu that could result in an administrative penalty being imposed on the company at a later date.
Bloomberg contributed to this story.
Contact reporter Manyun Zou (manyunzou@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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