Cloud Village, music streaming service of NetEase, lists on the Hong Kong Stock...

Cloud Village, music streaming service of NetEase, lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Cloud Village, music streaming service of NetEase, lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

December 3, 2021 7:06 am

Cloud Village, the music streaming service of Chinese gaming giant NetEase, has listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Cloud Village raised $421 million in its initial public offering, with shares priced at HK$205 apiece, in one of Hong Kong's first large tech listings since the middle of the year.

NetEase sold sixteen million shares in its first public offering, however the final price was only set at the midpoint of the range.

The IPO was previously announced in May, but was subsequently delayed due to the enhanced supervision of the Internet industry by the Chinese authorities.

But the company also benefited from tightened regulations and won more music distribution contracts. In July, China's antitrust regulator ordered Tencent Music, the music streaming arm of Tencent, to give up exclusive rights to music labels that it has used to compete with smaller rivals.

Now, Cloud Village has direct digital distribution contracts with Warner Chappell Music,  Universal Music, and Sony Music, the three global major record companies.

According to the company's prospectus, the monthly active users (MAU) of its online music service increased from 173.2 million in the six months ended June 30, 2020 to 184.5 million in the second quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, monthly paying users more than doubled, increased to 26.1 million in the quarter.

The company counts its parent NetEase, Orbis Investment Management Limited, and Sony Music Entertainment as cornerstone investors.

Cloud Village’s shares fell 2.5% to close at HK$199.90 ($25.6).

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