In China, tipping your favourite livestreaming host has become as common as tipping a waiter. Cash spent on virtual gifts on video platforms such as TikTok has surged during the pandemic. China's second-biggest short video app Kuaishou is riding that wave. It is on track to be the largest tech listing since Uber. Longer term, online tipping exposes Kuaishou to official disapproval.
The company is set to raise up to $6.3bn in Hong Kong, valuing the company at up to $62bn at the top of the range. Pent-up investor demand should ensure shares are heavily bid. Hong Kong dollar liquidity hit a record late last year. This reflected the postponement of Ant Group’s listing coupled with the absence of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, from the public markets.
Kuaishou is smaller than Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, with about half the users. But it has some distinct advantages. The group’s smaller size has limited the scrutiny of US regulators. It is also less dependent on ad sales. The bulk of revenue is a cut of virtual gifts viewers buy for livestreaming hosts. Commission runs as high as half the price for gifts costing up to $300.