Meilishuo, a China-based fashion e-commerce platform backed by internet group Tencent, is speaking to banks about an initial public offering in the US, Bloomberg reported today.
The offering could value the company at up to $4bn, according to people familiar with the matter, and it has spoken to potential advisors and underwriters about roles in the IPO.
Meilishuo was founded in 2009 and merged with social commerce company Mogujie in early 2016 in a deal that valued the newly formed company at approximately $3bn.
The company sells clothes, cosmetics, shoes and accessories through a Pinterest-like image-sharing social discovery model. It partnered e-commerce firm JD.com in January this year to jointly form a platform connected to Tencent’s WeChat messaging app.
Sequoia Capital, GGV Capital, BlueRun Ventures and Zero2IPO Ventures invested $20m in Meilishuo through a 2011 series C round, before Tencent provided an undisclosed amount of funding the following year. Hillhouse Capital and GGV added an undisclosed sum in 2014.
Mogujie raised $1m in series A funding from Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), a subsidiary of media group Bertelsmann, and TrustBridge Partners in 2011, and $10m in a series B round featuring BAI and Qiming Venture Partners in 2012.
Venture capital group IDG supplied an undisclosed amount of series C funding for Mogujie later the same year, and returned for a $200m round in 2014 that also featured Qiming, Magnolia Fund, TrustBridge and Banyan Funds, which valued the company at $1bn.