China-based social media platform developer Yalla Group filed for a $100m initial public offering yesterday that will give quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG) a chance to exit.
Founded in 2016, Yalla runs an online platform that allows users in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to connect to voice-based chatrooms, play social games and exchange digital gifts. It has 12.5 million monthly active users, 5.4 million of which are paying users.
The company doubled revenue year on year to $52.8m for the first half of 2020, while net income more than doubled to $25.2m in the same period. It plans to put the IPO proceeds into marketing and the strengthening of its technology infrastructure.
SIG’s Global China Fund provided $5m in series A funding for Yalla in May 2018, alongside $15m from investment group Orchid Asia, $945,000 from Allies Partners, according to the IPO filing.
Chairman and CEO Tao Yang owns 48.8% of Yalla’s shares. Its other notable shareholders are Orchid Asia (21.9%), chief operating officer Jianfeng Xu (9%) and SIG Global China Fund (7.3%).
Morgan Stanley, Haitong International Securities Company and Tiger Brokers (NZ) have been appointed underwriters for the offering, which is set to take place on the New York Stock Exchange.
