China-based automotive e-commerce marketplace Tuanche filed for a $150m initial public offering in the US on Tuesday that will score an exit for media group Bertelsmann’s Asia Investments (BAI) unit.
Founded in 2010, Tuanche runs an e-commerce marketplace for vehicles that it claims is the third largest in China by sales volume. It also sells vehicles through public auto shows it runs, and operates a virtual dealership service that connects carmakers with second-hand dealerships.
The company made a $3.2m net loss in the first half of 2018, from $40.7m in revenue. It will use 50% of the IPO proceeds for geographic expansion, 30% to enhance its IT and data analytics technology and 20% for general corporate purposes.
Venture capital firm K2VC provided $700,000 of series A funding for Tuanche in early 2013, before joining BAI for a $5.6m series B later the same year, according to the IPO filing.
Tuanche raised $27.6m in series C funding from BAI and VC firm Highland Capital Partners the following year, before the three existing investors joined AlphaX Partners for an $8.7m series C-plus round in June 2017.
Lanxi Puhua provided $30m in convertible note financing for Tuanche in 2015, and AlphaX Partners, K2VC and Hongtao Investment added $6.3m in a convertible note round in August 2017.
The company secured $23.4m in series D financing from investment entities Acee Capital and Honour Depot in June 2018, a further $50m from Beijing Z-Park Fund Investment Center in September and $2.3m from Beijing Shengjing Fengtai Innovation Investment Center earlier this month.
BAI owns a 9.9% stake in the company, whose other major shareholders are WW Long, a vehicle for chairman and CEO Wei Wen (19.1%), K2VC (14.1%), offshore trust Core Trust Company (13.4%), Highland Capital (10.6%), Beijing Z-Park Fund Investment Center (7.1%) and First Aqua, a vehicle for investor Zhiwen Lan (5.7%).
BAI has expressed an interest in buying $5m of shares in the IPO, while Honour Depot and K2VC could invest $7m and $3m respectively. Maxim Group and AMTD Global Markets are joint book-running managers for the offering.
