Tencent Music, which commands a total domination over the music streaming industry in China, is moving ahead with its IPO in New York, seeking as much as $1.2 billion from investors. The IPO is back in motion after around two months since the company postponed it amid a global selloff.
According to a regulatory filing accessed by The Tech Portal, the China-based music streaming service provider said that it plans to offer 82 million American depositary shares (ADS), representing 164 million Class A ordinary shares, for between $13 to $15 each. This means that the IPO will potentially raise up to $1.23 billion.
The company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TME. While Tencent Music’s filing didn’t say when its stock will start trading in New York, a report from Reuters suggests that trading will start from December 12, citing a source close to the deal.
It is offering 41.03 million ADS while selling shareholders will offer the remaining 40.97 million ADS. As per the filing, Tencent Music’s controlling shareholder, Tencent Holdings, has agreed to buy Class A ordinary shares valued at up to $32 million.
Tencent Music currently has around 800 million active users, making it not only China’s largest music streaming service provider but also one of the world’s biggest music streaming platform. For comparison, Spotify, which is the leading the market in North America, currently has around $170 million active users.
The lead underwriters for the offering include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
According to the data from Dealogic, this would be the third largest Chinese IPO in the United States since the beginning of 2018. Prior to this, streaming video platform iQiyi (IQ) raised $2.3 billion and social shopping app Pinduoduo (PDD) raised $1.6 billion.
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