In his first interview with international media, Bilibili chief executive Chen Rui said he’s unconcerned with short-term market gyrations. The firm – which has 200 million mostly Chinese millennial or Gen Z monthly users, as well as the backing of both Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. – will use most of the proceeds from the share sale to beef up its content and support its creators, in anticipation of an explosive growth in online video adoption over the next few years.
Bilibili Inc. fell on its debut in Hong Kong, becoming the latest US-traded Chinese firm to disappoint on its homecoming during a global sell-off in the country’s technology shares.
Shares of the fast-growing video streaming service sank more than 6% early Monday. Bilibili’s US$2.6 billion ($3.50 billion) listing comes after a string of block trades rattled US markets and American regulators last week revived concerns over potential delistings by implementing a law requiring stricter audit inspections. Its disappointing debut also follows Baidu Inc., which last week closed unchanged on its first day of trading in Hong Kong and has since dropped roughly 15%.
