Meili, a China-based fashion e-commerce platform backed by media group Bertelsmann, is aiming to raise $500m in an initial public offering in the second half of 2018, Reuters reported yesterday.
The company is seeking a flotation in the US and has hired Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and China Renaissance as underwriters, unnamed sources told Reuters. Initial reports last month about an IPO placed its valuation at up to $4bn, though no further details have emerged.
Meili is the result of a 2016 merger of e-commerce platforms Meilishuo and Mogujie that valued the newly formed business at approximately $3bn. It sells items such as clothes, handbags and accessories, targeting a female demographic.
Meilishuo had raised a total of approximately $250m in venture funding prior to the merger, according to AllChinaTech, including an undisclosed sum from internet group Tencent in 2012.
Sequoia Capital, GGV Capital, BlueRun Ventures and Zero2IPO Ventures had supplied $20m in series C funding for Meilishuo in 2011. Hillhouse Capital and GGV reportedly invested an undisclosed amount in 2014.
Mogujie received $1m in series A capital from Bertelsmann unit Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) and TrustBridge Partners in 2011, before securing $10m in a series B round featuring BAI and Qiming Venture Partners the following year.
IDG Capital injected an undisclosed amount of series C funding for Mogujie later the same year, and returned for a $200m series D round in 2014 that was co-led by Trustbridge and Hopu Investment Management and backed by Qiming, Magnolia Fund and Banyan Funds.
Mogujie’s backers also include Ping An Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of insurance provider Ping An, which led a $200m funding round for the company in 2015 with participation from Tiantu Capital.