Tuniu, a China-based online travel agency backed by e-commerce company Rakuten, has raised $72m in an initial public offering on Nasdaq and gained more than $1m in value on its first day of trading.
The company offered 8 million shares priced at $9 each, granting underwriters the option to purchase an additional 1.2 million shares within 30 days.
Founded in 2007, Tuniu was one of the first businesses to sell packaged holidays online to Chinese consumers. The company had originally hoped to raise up to $120m in its IPO.
Tuniu closed a $60m series D round in September 2013 from venture capital firm DCM and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek. RS Empowerment, an investment vehicle of Rakuten, led a $50m series C round in 2011 in exchange for a 5.3% stake, which has now been diluted to 5.2% in the IPO.
Tuniu’s other notable shareholders include DCM (which led a $10m series B round in 2010 and now holds a 23.7% stake), Temasek (18.9%), Gobi Partners (which invested $3m in 2009 and now holds 16.2%), and Sequoia Capital (13%).
The company will use $30m to increase its sales and marketing efforts, $20m to expand its product offering, and $10m to continue development of its platform.
Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Securities and China Renaissance Securities acted as underwriters for the offering.