[ad_1]
Kuaishou Technology has had its eyes on the world’s largest initial public offering for more than a year, seeking to raise around $ 5 billion through a sale of shares in Hong Kong as short video and broadcast apps live are gaining popularity in China.
Kuaishou – which competes with ByteDance Ltd., the rival Chinese company behind TikTok and its sister app Douyin – began to take control from investors on Monday. With the offer, which could value it at more than $ 60 billion, Kuaishou is joining a series of Chinese tech companies listed in Hong Kong.
Kuaishou, which means “quick hand” in Chinese, is backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. It was co-founded by Su Hua and Cheng Yixiao, software engineers who previously worked for Google China and Hewlett Packard.,
respectively.
Kuaishou and ByteDance both capitalized on the growing demand from young Chinese people to watch and record short videos on their smartphones. According to data cited in its prospectus, its eponymous short video platform is the second largest in the world, and there were 305 million average daily active users of its apps and mini-programs in China during the nine-month period. September.
With a minimum deal size of $ 4.95 billion, the IPO is reportedly the largest in the world since late 2019, when Saudi Arabian Oil Co., commonly known as Aramco, raised $ 29.4 billion. , according to figures from Dealogic.
At the high end, the deal involves a market cap of $ 60.9 billion, showing how Kuaishou’s valuation has grown rapidly. It was valued at $ 28.6 billion last February after securing $ 3 billion in funding from a consortium led by Tencent, according to PitchBook, a data provider. In total, the company has raised more than $ 4 billion in multiple funding rounds, according to data from PitchBook.
Kuaishou takes a more democratic approach than competing services, saying its systems deliberately show users a wider range of videos, rather than content from star creators. Its flyer says that nearly 40% of videos get more than 100 views and that its co-founder, Mr. Cheng, believes Kuaishou should be a place that “stands up for ordinary people”.
Yet the list document also highlights a few creators who have gained great popularity, including a young inventor named “Hopeless Edison”, a couple raising cordyceps mushrooms in Sichuan province, and a British professor based in Sichuan. Beijing which conducts chemistry experiments online.
The company sells 365.2 million new shares in an indicative range of 105 to 115 Hong Kong dollars, according to a term sheet seen by the Wall Street Journal. He plans to set the offer price on January 29.
The size of the offering could increase to $ 6.2 billion if the underwriting banks exercise an option to sell 15% more shares.
Kuaishou recruited 10 key investors, including Capital Group, Temasek, BlackRock Inc.,
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Boyu Capital. They agreed to buy a combined $ 2.45 billion worth of the stock, regardless of the transaction price.
Morgan Stanley units,
Bank of America Corp.
and China Renaissance Holdings Ltd.
act as co-authors of the agreement.
Write to Joanne Chiu at [email protected]
Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the January 25, 2021 print edition as “Chinese Video Firm To Raise $ 5 Billion”.
[ad_2]
Source link