(Yicai) June 1 -- Share of Minimax Group, one of China's six “AI tigers,” tumbled after the startup said it has begun preparing for a secondary listing in Shanghai about five months after going public in Hong Kong, with a view to maximizing its valuation, financing flexibility, and brand reach.

Minimax [HKG: 0100] closed down almost 16 percent at HKD708 (USD90.34) per share today, reducing its market capitalization to HKD222 billion (USD28.3 billion). That is still four times more than the stock’s initial public offering price of HKD165 in January.

Minimax plans to issue shares on the Nasdaq-style Star Market, the Shanghai-based company announced in a stock exchange filing yesterday. The firm submitted counseling documents to Shanghai’s securities bureau on May 29, with Citic Securities engaged to help it prepare, according to the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

MiniMax has over one million users of its artificial intelligence-based enterprise services worldwide, a fivefold increase in six months, while its global user ranks reached around 300 million, co-founder Yun Yeyi said in a media interview last week. Over the past two months, the company's annual recurring revenue more than doubled, Yun noted.

MiniMax's net loss widened more than four times to USD1.9 billion last year, including a fair value loss of nearly USD1.6 billion on financial liabilities, according to its first post-IPO earnings report released in March. The firm’s adjusted net loss was USD250 million.

Revenue soared 159 percent to USD79 million. The company’s revenue base is highly globalized, with overseas income reaching USD57.7 million, making up a larger share of the total compared with the prior year.

Established in December 2021, MiniMax became the second major Chinese AI startup to list after Zhipu AI, while being the fastest to go public worldwide.

Zhipu AI launched its pre-listing counseling filing for its secondary listing on the Star Market at the end of April, with China International Capital Corporation acting as sponsor.

MiniMax's shares hit a record high of HKD1,330 (USD169.69) each on March 18. The stock will be included in the Hang Seng Technology Index and Hang Seng Composite Index after the market closes on June 5.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev