AAA Inke enters public markets in $134m IPO

Inke enters public markets in $134m IPO

Inke, the China-based live game streaming platform backed by online game publisher Beijing Kunlun Tech and internet group Tencent, has raised HK$1.05bn ($134m) in its initial public offering, Technode has reported.

The company priced its shares at HK$3.85 each, at the bottom of the range it had set last month, while increasing the number of shares in the offering from 257 million to 300 million.

Founded in 2015, Inke runs a mobile-focused livestreaming platform that concentrates on gaming, allowing viewers and video creators to communicate with each other. It had approximately 195 million registered users as of the end of 2017.

The company made a net loss of about RMB239m ($35.8m at current exchange rates) in 2017 from RMB3.94bn ($590m) in revenue.

Kunlun and Duomi, the owner of a now defunct music streaming platform, took part in Inke’s series A round, which closed at approximately $18.6m in early 2016 according to the IPO filing, alongside GSR Ventures, Zihui Tianma and Zihui Juxim.

The company added $45.6 from Tencent, Jiaxing Guanglian, Jiaxing Guangmei, Ningbo Anhe, Ningbo Qingzheng, Mango Wenchuang and Zihui Juxin in a series B round that closed in July 2017.

Duomi owned a 14.6% share of Inke pre-offering while Kunlun held 10.2% and Tencent 0.9%. Other notable shareholders include chairman and CEO Feng Yousheng (20.9%) and employee investment vehicles Inke Changqing (7.8%), Inke Huanzhong and Inke Yuanda (5% each).

Inke’s shares opened at HK$4.32 on its first day of trading on Thursday and are trading at HK$4.89 at time of publication, having closed at HK$5.00 on Friday.

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