TikTok Owner-Backed Hupu Seeks $100 Million in New Round

(Bloomberg) -- Hupu Sports Shanghai Media Co., a Chinese sports commentary and news portal, is seeking to raise about $100 million in a new funding round before its planned initial public offering, according to people familiar with the situation.

The pre-IPO round could potentially value the ByteDance Ltd.-backed Hupu at about $700 million, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The fundraising size and valuation target are preliminary and could still change as deliberations continue, the people said.

The sports news portal is considering going public as soon as the end of this year, the people said. The company prefers a listing in the U.S. for higher valuation, while Hong Kong could also be an option, they said. No final decision has been made on the IPO plans, the people said.

A representative from Hupu didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Founded in 2004, Shanghai-based Hupu started out as a social media platform for basketball fans in China and has evolved into an online community for sports, games, entertainment and e-commerce. The company also organizes sports events and has cooperations with sports clubs such as AC Milan SpA.

ByteDance, the creator of short video app TikTok, last year invested 1.26 billion yuan ($178 million) for a 30% stake in Hupu, according to a statement. The companies said they would share content and content creators across their platforms, the statement said.

Hupu had previously tried to list in China. It applied for an IPO in 2016 in Shanghai but was rejected by the country’s securities regulator. Hupu retained China International Capital Corp. and Eastmoney Securities Co. for a domestic share sale in March last year, according to disclosure on China Securities Regulatory Commission website.

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With assistance from Bloomberg