Chinese TechCrunch Rival 36Kr Holdings Files for U.S. IPO

(Bloomberg) -- 36Kr Holdings Inc., a Chinese website that tracks startup fundraising in the country, filed for a U.S. initial public offering.

The Beijing-based company, founded in 2010, listed the size of the offering at $100 million, a placeholder amount likely to change, according to filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It plans to trade on Nasdaq Global Select Market.

The filing comes amid volatility in the U.S. IPO market.

We Co., the parent of office-sharing company WeWork, announced Monday that it will file a request to withdraw its listing application, after concerns about its governance and valuation. Entertainment company Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. called of its initial public offering at the last minute last week, following a tepid reception for Peloton Interactive Inc.’s trading debut.

It also comes as the Trump administration discusses ways to limit U.S. investors’ portfolio flows into China. Options under consideration include delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges, Bloomberg News reported last week.

Chinese companies have raised $2.8 billion in IPOs in the U.S. this year, down from $7.7 billion during the same time period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

36Kr raised $24 million in its most recent funding round September, when it sold shares to investors including Nikkei Inc., which owns the Financial Times, according to the filing.

Like other companies to list recently, 36Kr will have dual classes of shares. Holders of Class A shares will get one vote per share while Class B holders will get 25 votes per share.

36Kr’s news portal hosted 50,000 articles and had 150 million readers at the end of 2017, according to its website. It also has affiliates operating a data analysis platform and running co-working spaces in China.

It lost $6.6 million on $29.4 million in revenue during the six months ended June 30, according to the filing.

Credit Suisse Group AG and China International Capital Corp. are leading the offering.

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

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Liana Baker at lbaker75@bloomberg.net, Matthew Monks, Scott Deveau

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