Qualcomm, China Mobile Among 7 Cornerstone Investors for Xiaomi IPO
Jun. 22, 2018The company is said to have lined up $548 million from seven cornerstone investors including US chipmaker Qualcomm, Chinese express delivery company SF Express, domestic telco China Mobile, state-backed investment firm CICFH Entertainment and state-run conglomerate China Merchants Group.
According to Reuters, the aforementioned companies will be allotted 10 percent of the shares being offered, while the rest will be available for institutional investors. As part of its IPO, Xiaomi is selling about 2.18 billion shares, 65 percent of which are primary.
Xiaomi officially filed for an IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange in May after months of rumors and speculations surrounding the process. Reports back then had suggested that the company might belooking to raise $10 billionat avaluation of $100 billion, which would have made it China’s third largest technology company based on market cap.
Recent reports, however, have been more sobering, with the company expected to rake in between $6.1 billion to $7.9 billion in the IPO, valuing the tech giant between $54.3 billion to $70.3 billion. The drastic reduction in the company’s valuation is believed to be because of its decision to withhold its share offering in the mainland until after itsHong Kong IPO.
Xiaomi’s IPO comes in the wake of the company’sphenomenal growthover the past year, especially in overseas markets like India, where its Redmi series smartphones have virtually become the default go-to devices in the mid-range. The company recentlylaunched its Mi 8 flagshipat an event in China, and isexpected to add new devicesto its portfolio later this month.
Passionate techie. Professional tech writer. Proud geek.
