Zhong Lun Advises on Tongcheng-Elong’s IPO in Hong Kong
Zhong Lun Advises on Tongcheng-Elong’s IPO in Hong Kong
On November 26, 2018, Tongcheng-Elong Holdings Limited (stock code: 0780.HK) announced the closing of its initial public offering on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, raising the total gross proceeds of approximately HK$1.4 billion prior to the exercise of the over-allotment option. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and CMBI acted as joint sponsors for the offering.
Tongcheng-Elong is the combined business resulting from the merger of Tongcheng Network and eLong, as completed in March 2018. According to iResearch, on a combined basis, Tongcheng-Elong ranked third in terms of GMV in China’s online travel market in 2017. Tongcheng-Elong is the first OTA company publicly listed in Hong Kong.
Zhong Lun Law Firm acted as the PRC legal advisor to Tongcheng-Elong in this offering. The legal team from Zhong Lun was led by Anthony Zhao and William Jia, and included Raphael Liu, Roy Zheng, Cynthia Yuan, Nancy Lan and Jason Zhan, etc.
Zhong Lun assisted Tongcheng-Elong to establish a pioneering “50% equity+50%VIE" structure in Hong Kong capital market, where it holds two foreign-invested value-added telecommunication licenses with 50% foreign owenrship. In addition, the Zhong Lun team advised on the merger of Tongcheng Network and eLong, as well as Tongcheng-Elong’s pre-IPO restructuring and financing.