China-based digital advertising platform AdChina filed for an initial public offering (IPO) last Friday which could raise up to $100m. Investors in the company, which will float on Nasdaq, include media conglomerate News Corporation.
News Corp., which holds 9.2% of AsChina’s stock, contributed to an $18.9m funding round in July 2009, along with venture capital fund GSR Ventures (which holds 29.9%) and VC firm Richmond Global (14.9%). Investment firm Norwest Equity Partners, which led the next round in October 2010, holds 10.9% while Universal Access Enterprises holds 12.4%.
GSR initially led a June 2008 series A round which raised $10m, according to online financial news source PaidContent.
According to figures included in the filing, AdChina’s revenue is continuing to grow, almost doubling to $50.7m in 2011. However, the increase in revenue has come hand in hand with a leap in operating expenses, leading to an $18.5m net loss last year, up from smaller losses of $2.4m-$3m for each of the preceding three years.
The online platform managed by AdChina tracks advertising space from publishers, analyses data from online users and processes orders from advertisers, matching advertisers to their target audience. AdChina estimates it reaches more than 486 million unique users and 249 million mobile users every month.
AdChina plans to use the proceeds raised from the IPO to fund continuing technological advancement of its online platform, as well as strategic investment in acquiring advertising inventory, particularly in the acquisition of publishers with complementary customer bases.
AdChina is also looking to expand its geographical reach in China and will seek to do this by financing marketing and sales initiatives within the country, hiring additional staff and increasing its training budget.
Underwriters for the IPO are Goldman Sachs Asia and Credit Suisse Securities.