HONG KONG - Chinese mainland tech group NetEase Inc aims to raise between US$2 and US$3 billion in one of the largest equity deals so far this year when it launches a secondary listing in Hong Kong on Monday, said three people familiar with the transaction.

The offering from the mainland online gaming company is expected to be one of several large secondary listings in the city this year.

NetEase’s deal will be Hong Kong’s largest listing so far in 2020, according to Refinitiv data, and one of the largest in the world, depending on the final size

Netease will start the institutional book build on Monday and the retail offering will run until the end of the week, the sources told Reuters. They asked not to be named as the information has not been made public.

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Netease declined to comment on the listing process.

In its filings to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Netease said one potential risk for investors was proposed US legislation that could force some mainland companies to delist if their auditor had failed to comply with US audit oversight for three years.

Netease is only the second company to launch a secondary listing in Hong Kong, following Alibaba in 2019, under a rule change in the city that finally allowed US-listed mainland groups to seek a secondary listing.

JD.com is expected to follow Netease, with plans to list on June 18 and could raise up to US$3 billion by selling down 5 percent of its shares, Reuters has reported.

READ MORE: US-listed mainland tech giants ‘moving back to HK’

Netease’s deal will be Hong Kong’s largest listing so far in 2020, according to Refinitiv data, and one of the largest in the world, depending on the final size.

It comes as market activity is picking up again globally. On Friday, coffee maker JDE Peet raised 2.25 billion euros (US$2.50 billion) in its Amsterdam debut, while Warner Music is due to price its offering of up to US$1.8 billion in New York on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Asia had hosted the largest deals, with Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway raising US$4.4 billion on the Chinese mainland early in January and Thailand’s Central Retail taking US$2.52 billion in February in Bangkok.

Companies have raised US$36.9 billion in IPOs so far this year, down 32.1 percent from the same period last year, Refinitiv data showed.