China's Internet firms make splash in U.S. IPO market
By Kim Young-gyo
HONG KONG, May 9 (Yonhap) -- Chinese Internet companies are rushing to list their shares on the U.S. stock market following a recent series of successful initial public offerings (IPOs) by their peers, analysts said Monday.
Last week, RenRen Inc., one of the biggest social networking services in China, raised US$743 million through an IPO for listing on the New York Stock Exchange. It was immediately followed by Chinese mobile security provider NetQin, which sold shares worth $89.13 million.
"The Chinese stocks are aggressively sought after in the U.S.," said Li Daxian, a researcher at China's Yingda Securities.
"They can be sold at a better price on the Nasdaq stock market than in the GEM," he said, referring to the China's own Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), which launched in October 2009 in the southern city of Shenzhen, in an aim to cater to small and mid-sized companies.
Many China-based Internet companies have been encouraged to go public in the U.S. since two firms -- Youku.com Inc., an online video Web site, and e-commerce company Dang Dang Inc. -- took the spotlight in the U.S. market last December.
Later this week, two more tech-oriented Chinese companies will debut in New York. Online dating Web site Jianyuan.com is slated to offer 7.1 million shares on Wednesday, expecting to raise up to $178 million, while Phoenix New Media Ltd., an online and mobile video content provider, is set to offer 12.76 million shares, expecting to raise up to $178.7 million.
Some other Chinese companies, such as Shanghai-based TaoMee Inc., which runs www.61.com, a social-networking website for Chinese children, and Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology Ltd, a video and music file-sharing company partly owned by Google Inc., also plan to go public in the U.S. this month.
Market watchers say this year will mark the fourth boom of the Chinese companies listing overseas. The first boom occurred in 1999 to 2000 when portal Web sites such as Sina, Sohu and Netease went public, followed by the second round in 2003 and 2004 as Ctrip.com, Tencent Holdings, Shanda, Jrj.com and 51job.com got listed. The year 2007 saw a third IPO rush, with Alibaba.com and ZTgame.com going public.
"The U.S. investors are more willing to invest in the information technology (IT) industry, which belongs to the venture capital industry," said Chen Haiyang, a Beijing-based lawyer, who specializes in commerce and finance law.
"In the early stage of IT firms, it is often difficult to make profits, not being able to meet the rigid conditions required by China's domestic stock bourse operators. In terms of that, NASDAQ is more lenient, providing a relatively lower threshold," he said.
HONG KONG, May 9 (Yonhap) -- Chinese Internet companies are rushing to list their shares on the U.S. stock market following a recent series of successful initial public offerings (IPOs) by their peers, analysts said Monday.
Last week, RenRen Inc., one of the biggest social networking services in China, raised US$743 million through an IPO for listing on the New York Stock Exchange. It was immediately followed by Chinese mobile security provider NetQin, which sold shares worth $89.13 million.
"The Chinese stocks are aggressively sought after in the U.S.," said Li Daxian, a researcher at China's Yingda Securities.
"They can be sold at a better price on the Nasdaq stock market than in the GEM," he said, referring to the China's own Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), which launched in October 2009 in the southern city of Shenzhen, in an aim to cater to small and mid-sized companies.
Many China-based Internet companies have been encouraged to go public in the U.S. since two firms -- Youku.com Inc., an online video Web site, and e-commerce company Dang Dang Inc. -- took the spotlight in the U.S. market last December.
Later this week, two more tech-oriented Chinese companies will debut in New York. Online dating Web site Jianyuan.com is slated to offer 7.1 million shares on Wednesday, expecting to raise up to $178 million, while Phoenix New Media Ltd., an online and mobile video content provider, is set to offer 12.76 million shares, expecting to raise up to $178.7 million.
Some other Chinese companies, such as Shanghai-based TaoMee Inc., which runs www.61.com, a social-networking website for Chinese children, and Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology Ltd, a video and music file-sharing company partly owned by Google Inc., also plan to go public in the U.S. this month.
Market watchers say this year will mark the fourth boom of the Chinese companies listing overseas. The first boom occurred in 1999 to 2000 when portal Web sites such as Sina, Sohu and Netease went public, followed by the second round in 2003 and 2004 as Ctrip.com, Tencent Holdings, Shanda, Jrj.com and 51job.com got listed. The year 2007 saw a third IPO rush, with Alibaba.com and ZTgame.com going public.
"The U.S. investors are more willing to invest in the information technology (IT) industry, which belongs to the venture capital industry," said Chen Haiyang, a Beijing-based lawyer, who specializes in commerce and finance law.
"In the early stage of IT firms, it is often difficult to make profits, not being able to meet the rigid conditions required by China's domestic stock bourse operators. In terms of that, NASDAQ is more lenient, providing a relatively lower threshold," he said.
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