Babytree starts taking orders for a reduced IPO – TechCrunch



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Many Chinese millennials can delay or refuse to procreate, but those who are committed to becoming parents often strive to ensure that their children grow up healthy and succeed in school.

According to consulting firm Roland Berger, Babytree is one of the companies exploiting the rise of China's booming maternal and infant industry, whose market value is expected to double between 2015 and 2018 to reach $ 520 billion. . The Beijing-based company began trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Founded in 2007, Babytree operates an online platform for parents to exchange know-how, buy baby products and buy early education services.

The company made its debut at HK $ 6.91, or $ 0.88, while its IPO price was HK $ 6.80. This valuates Babytree at $ 11.5 billion from Hong Kong, or $ 1.47 billion, well below its valuation of $ 2.19 billion in May after signing a strategic investment from Alibaba that saw partners collaborate on a number of fronts, including e-commerce, advertising and paid content.

Last week, Babytree reduced its IPO by 70% to 282 million dollars, while investor interest in Hong Kong declined.

Babytree, in which Alibaba holds a 9.9% stake, was created in 2007 by venture capital firm Shao Yibo – the founder of the Chinese subsidiary of Matrix Partners and EachNet, which was acquired by Ebay in 2003 to take over Taibao. 'Alibaba – and former leader of Yahoo and Google, Wang Huainan.

The other major investor in Babytree is the Chinese conglomerate and investment firm Fosun International, which also supported its smaller competitor, Qinbaboao, a social media service that allows young parents to share their photos and knowledge.

The parent portal has averaged 175 million active users per month between July and September, according to its IPO prospectus. Qinbaobao claimed to have more than 70 million registered users after collecting hundreds of millions of RMBs during a series of C series financing in October.

Babytree derives most of its revenue from advertising costs and e-commerce transactions, but Wang, Wang's co-founder, recently said that paid content is one of the most dynamic segments of the company. The parent site generated revenue of 408 million yuan, or 58.6 million US dollars, in the first half of 2018, up 12 percent over the same period last year. Adjusted earnings increased by 30 percent to 122 million yuan ($ 17.6 million) over the same period.

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