Chinese streaming giant Tencent Music raises $1.1bn in IPO
Chinese tech giant Tencent will raise roughly $1.1bn (£877m) in the US initial public offering (IPO) of its music streaming division.
Tencent Music priced its shares at $13 each, at the low end of its $13-$15 range, and will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today.
The share price puts Tencent Music’s value at $21.3bn, below the $25bn forecast earlier this year. Its European rival Spotify was valued at just under $30bn when it went public earlier this year.
But unlike loss-making Spotify, Tencent pulled in profits of $263m in the first six months of the year. In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission Tencent said it has “achieved growth and profitability at scale”.
Tencent originally planned to launch the offering in October, but delayed the IPO due to concerns over volatility in the global stock market amid trade tensions between the US and China.
The listing comes as the company is being sued by an early investor, who has accused Tencent of using threats and intimidation to force him to sell his stake.
Tencent’s IPO is the latest in a string of large Chinese listings. Online video platform iQiyi and group discount website Pinduoduo pulled in $2.4bn and $1.6bn respectively in listings earlier this year.
The company is China’s largest online music platform, with over 800m monthly users. Its brands include music streaming service QQ Music and karaoke app Wesing.
The platform’s parent company, Tencent, is one of the largest tech firms in China, with over 1bn monthly active users on its Wechat messaging service.