Chinese digital freight startup Full Truck Alliance ended Tuesday up 13% in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange after raising USD 1.6 billion from investors, suggesting a normalizing appetite for Chinese technology listings in the US following a long period of policy uncertainty.
The company’s American depositary shares—previously priced at USD 19 apiece, at the high end of the marketed range—opened at USD 22.50 and had settled to USD 21.50 at the market’s close.
The cargo platform, backed by Tencent Holdings and SoftBank Group, has attracted investors such as the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Abu Dhabi-based sovereign fund Mubadala Investment, with each having agreed to purchase USD 100 million in shares.
Its US listing is expected to be followed later this year by that of ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing, which is holding preliminary investor meetings for what is shaping up to be a USD 10 billion New York initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
Read more: Didi, Grab, and the future of Asia’s ride-hailing giants
The offerings also come after a tumultuous year for Chinese companies on American bourses. China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom all exited in 2021 under an executive order by former US President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration had deemed the three mobile carriers as linked to the Chinese military, barring US investment in such companies.
The Biden administration in early June expanded a blacklist drawn up by its predecessor. This came the month after the US Department of Defense agreed to stop blacklisting Chinese consumer electronics maker Xiaomi, signaling a more targeted approach to Chinese tech companies in the Biden era.
Full Truck Alliance generated net revenue of USD 395.5 million and a USD 531.9 million net loss in 2020, according to a prospectus. It says it plans to use about 40% of the net proceeds to invest in infrastructure development and technology innovation, another 40% or so to expand service offerings, and the rest for general corporate purposes.
Competitors include Lalamove, which is known as Huolala in China and is backed by Full Truck Alliance investors Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia. Didi Chuxing has also expanded its business into freight.
Read more: From pro poker player to portage: The story behind Shing Chow and his freight unicorn Lalamove
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It’s republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoingpartnership with Nikkei.