ADVERTISEMENT

Chinese Startup Mogu Is Said Poised to Raise $67 Million in IPO

Mogu plans to price its sale of 4.75 million American depositary shares at $14 each.

Chinese Startup Mogu Is Said Poised to Raise $67 Million in IPO
Revlon brand fingernail polish is arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S. (Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Mogu Inc., a Chinese startup selling fashion and cosmetics online, is poised to raise about $67 million in a U.S. initial public offering priced at the bottom of its marketed range, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The company, which counts Tencent Holdings Ltd. as an investor, plans to price its sale of 4.75 million American depositary shares at $14 each, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The shares were marketed at $14 to $16 apiece.

The price implies a market value of $1.3 billion, compared to the $4 billion the Chinese firm was targeting earlier this year before a market selloff hit demand for tech stocks. When Meilishuo.com and Mogujie.com merged in 2016 to create Mogu, the combined company said it was valued at $3 billion.

Mogu lost $44 million on revenue of $71 million for the six months ended Sept. 30, a regulatory filing shows. A representative for Mogu didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The IPO marks the latest in a string of debuts this year by companies backed or controlled by Tencent, including Hong Kong-traded internet services giant Meituan Dianping and New York-listed electric vehicle maker NIO Inc. On Monday, Tencent’s music-streaming arm said it will market its U.S. IPO shares at $13 to $15 each, which would raise as much as $1.23 billion.

Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and China Renaissance Holdings Ltd. are arranging Mogu’s listing. Its shares are expected to begin trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MOGU.

--With assistance from Michael Hytha.

To contact the reporter on this story: Crystal Tse in Hong Kong at ctse44@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, ;Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Timothy Sifert

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.