Business
Asian travel platform Klook is filing for a New York IPO
Klook, a Hong Kong- and Singapore-based travel booking company, is filing for an initial public offering in New York, showing that despite the events of the past year, the U.S. remains a top listing destination for Asian companies.
The company, founded in 2014 by Ethan Lin and Eric Gnock Fah, claims to be the largest experience booking platform in Asia by gross transaction volume, with 65 million experiences booked in the twelve months ending Sept. 30.
In its IPO prospectus, Klook revealed that it generated $417.1 million in revenue in 2024, a 24% increase. Yet the company isn’t profitable, losing $99.3 million last year.
Klook is working with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “KLK.” The platform has not shared details on the number of shares to be offered, nor at what price.
The company competes with other Asian travel platforms like China’s Trip.com and Indonesia’s Traveloka to offer tours, attraction tickets, and transit options in 4,000 destinations around the world. Other global competitors include Europe’s GetYourGuide and Booking.com.
Klook is pursuing an IPO right as tourism is surging around the world, as travelers are eager to go on holiday after years of COVID-era lockdowns. According to a May report by the World Travel and Tourism Council, the travel sector is set to generate $11.7 trillion in 2025, making up 10.3% of global GDP.
Venturing onto U.S. exchanges
Klook is listing in New York amid tense relations between the U.S. and China.
Companies based in China have long gone to U.S. exchanges to raise money, given the country’s deeper pools of capital. Yet, in recent years, the U.S. has raised the prospect of delisting Chinese companies from U.S. exchanges if they failed to comply with the country’s auditing standards. Since taking office, the Trump administration has asked officials to determine if “adequate financial auditing standards” are upheld by foreign companies listed on its markets.
Klook, in its IPO prospectus, listed addresses in both Singapore and the Chinese city of Hong Kong as its principal executive offices. Still, the company flagged concerns about delisting as a risk factor in its filing.
Despite this broader uncertainty, a few Chinese companies have ventured onto U.S. exchanges. WeRide and Pony AI, two Chinese self-driving vehicle startups, debuted on the NASDAQ exchange in late 2024—only to follow that up, almost exactly a year later, with simultaneous debuts in the Chinese city of Hong Kong last week.
