Legend Capital, the corporate venturing arm of China-based conglomerate Legend Holdings, has applied to list on China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotation (NEEQ) market, China Money Network reported yesterday.
Founded in 1984, Legend Holdings’ core business revolves around its majority stake in hardware manufacturer Lenovo, but it has diversified holdings spanning financial services and investment, IT, agriculture, real estate and chemicals.
Legend Capital was launched in 2001 with $35m of funding, and Legend Holdings currently owns 20% of the unit, with the remaining 80% belonging to a holding vehicle owned by several senior Legend Holdings executives.
The unit has a total of $1.7bn under management, spread across six US dollar-denominated funds and three renminbi funds. It has since invested in 78 companies, according to the listing application filed by Legend Capital.
Legend Capital’s exits have included AutoNavi, which went public in 2010 before being acquired by e-commerce group Alibaba for $1.5bn in April 2014, e-commerce company Renren, which floated in 2011, and iDreamSky Technology, which raised almost $160m in an August 2014 IPO.
China-based venture capital and private equity firms to have listed on NEEQ so far include Tiantu Capital, Citic Capital, ChinaEquity Group, Innovation Works, Cowin Venture Capital and CSC Group.
Legend Holdings itself floated in Hong Kong in June this year, raising almost $2bn in the process.