By Yi Wei Wong
Shares of Chinese social-media company Weibo Corp. fell in their trading debut in Hong Kong on Wednesday morning amid a challenging environment for Chinese technology stocks.
Shares of the Beijing-based company dropped as much as 7.2% compared with its offering price of HK$272.80. They were last down 6.2% at HK$256.00.
Weibo, which operates a Twitter-like microblogging service and counts Sina Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as major shareholders, raised net proceeds of 1.38 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$177 million) in the offering. It intends to use proceeds to grow its user base and pursue acquisitions and investments, among others.
Weibo has been listed in the U.S. since late 2019. Its American depositary receipts on the Nasdaq have lost 18% this year.
The muted debut comes as a host of Chinese companies are rushing to wrap up deals in Hong Kong, with companies in industries ranging from real estate to healthcare raising billions of dollars in combined proceeds. Weibo is among one of many U.S.-listed Chinese technology companies that are opting for secondary listings as regulators increase their scrutiny.
Write to Yi Wei Wong at yiwei.wong@wsj.com
