As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1, 2025
Registration No. 333-
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
HELLO GROUP INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Cayman Islands | Not Applicable | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
20th Floor, Block B
Tower 2, Wangjing SOHO
No. 1 Futongdong Street
Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102
People’s Republic of China
+86-10-5731-0567
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
2024 Share Incentive Plan
(Full title of the plan)
Puglisi & Associates
850 Library Avenue, Suite 204
Newark, Delaware 19711
+1 302-738-6680
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | |||
| Emerging growth company | ☐ | |||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
Copies to:
| Cathy Hui Peng Chief Financial Officer Hello Group Inc. 20th Floor, Block B Tower 2, Wangjing SOHO No. 1 Futongdong Street Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102 People’s Republic of China +86-10-5731-0567 |
Haiping Li, Esq. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP c/o 42/F, Edinburgh Tower, The Landmark 15 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong +852 3740-4700 |
PART I
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(A) PROSPECTUS
Item 1. Plan Information*
Item 2. Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information*
| * | Information required by Part I to be contained in the Section 10(a) prospectus is omitted from this Registration Statement in accordance with Rule 428 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and the Note to Part I of Form S-8. The documents containing information specified in this Part I will be separately provided to the participants covered by the plan, as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act. |
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference
The following documents previously filed by the Registrant with the Commission are incorporated by reference herein:
| (a) | The Registrant’s annual report on Form 20-F (File No. 001-38482) for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Commission on April 26, 2024; and |
| (b) | The description of the Registrant’s Class A ordinary shares incorporated by reference in the Registrant’s registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36765) filed with the Commission on November 28, 2014 , which incorporated by reference the description of the Registrant’s Class A ordinary shares set forth under “Description of Share Capital” in the Registrant’s registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333- 199996), initially filed with the Commission on November 7, 2014, including any amendment and report subsequently filed for the purpose of updating that description. |
All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), after the date of this registration statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this registration statement which indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement and to be part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Any statement in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement will be deemed to be modified or superseded to the extent that a statement contained in this registration statement or in any other later filed document that also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to be a part of this registration statement.
Item 4. Description of Securities
Not applicable.
Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel
Not applicable.
Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s articles of association may provide for indemnification of directors and officers, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. The Registrant’s currently effective second amended and restated articles of association, adopted by its shareholders on November 28, 2014, provides that the Registrant shall indemnify its directors and officers against all actions, proceedings, costs, charges, expenses, losses, damages or liabilities incurred or sustained by such persons, other than by reason of such persons’ own dishonesty, willful default or fraud, in or about the conduct of the Registrant’s business or affairs (including as a result of any mistake of judgment) or in the execution or discharge of their duties, powers, authorities or discretions, including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any costs, expenses, losses or liabilities incurred by such persons in defending (whether successfully or otherwise) any civil proceedings concerning the Registrant or its affairs in any court whether in the Cayman Islands or elsewhere.
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Pursuant to the indemnification agreements, the form of which was filed as Exhibit 10.5 to the Registrant’s registration statement on Form F-1, as amended (File No. 333-199996), the Registrant has agreed to indemnify its directors and officers against certain liabilities and expenses incurred by such persons in connection with claims made by reason of their being such a director or officer.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, the Registrant has been informed that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
The Registrant also maintains a directors and officers liability insurance policy for its directors and officers.
Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed
Not applicable.
Item 8. Exhibits
See the Index to Exhibits attached hereto.
Item 9. Undertakings
| (a) | The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes: |
| (1) | To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement: |
| (i) | to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act; |
| (ii) | to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Filing Fee Tables” or “Calculation of Registration Fee” table, as applicable, in the effective registration statement.; and |
| (iii) | to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to that information in the Registration Statement; |
provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement;
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| (2) | That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. |
| (3) | To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering. |
| (b) | The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. |
| (c) | Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. |
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EXHIBIT INDEX
| * | Filed herewith. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Beijing, China, on April 1, 2025.
| Hello Group Inc. | ||
| By: | /s/ Cathy Hui Peng | |
| Name: Cathy Hui Peng | ||
| Title: Chief Financial Officer | ||
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KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints, severally and not jointly, each of Mr. Yan Tang and Ms. Cathy Hui Peng, with full power to act alone, as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact, with the power of substitution, for and in such person’s name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this registration statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto each said attorney-in-fact full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each said attorney-in-fact may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on April 1, 2025.
| Signature |
Title | |
| /s/ Yan Tang |
Chairman of Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) | |
| Yan Tang | ||
| /s/ Li Wang |
Executive Director and President | |
| Li Wang | ||
| /s/ Sichuan Zhang |
Director and Chief Operating Officer | |
| Sichuan Zhang | ||
| /s/ Dave Daqing Qi |
Director | |
| Dave Daqing Qi | ||
| /s/ Benson Bing Chung Tam |
Director | |
| Benson Bing Chung Tam | ||
| /s/ Cathy Hui Peng |
Chief Financial Officer (principal financial and accounting officer) | |
| Cathy Hui Peng | ||
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SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE IN THE UNITED STATES
Pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned, the duly authorized representative in the United States of Hello Group Inc. has signed this registration statement or amendment thereto in Newark, Delaware, the United States on April 1, 2025.
| Authorized U.S. Representative | ||
| By: | /s/ Donald J. Puglisi | |
| Name: Donald J. Puglisi | ||
| Title: Managing Director | ||
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