Website owner Dianping appoints advisers for US listing

Dianping, the operator of a review website in China, is working with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank on an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, said people with knowledge of the matter.

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Dianping had more than 100 million active users in the first quarter.

Published: 5:57am, 13 Jun 2014

Dianping, the operator of a review website in China, is working with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank on an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, said people with knowledge of the matter.

The IPO may raise about US$500 million to US$1 billion, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are confidential. China Renaissance Securities is also working on the deal, according to the sources.

Dianping's share sale would follow Chinese internet retailer JD.com's US$1.8 billion offering and online marketplace Alibaba's proposed listing that may raise about US$20 billion. The companies are seeking to take advantage of soaring online spending in China, where e-commerce sales jumped 52 per cent in the first four months of 2014 from a year earlier, according to the statistics bureau.

Dianping had more than 100 million active users in the first quarter for its reviews and discounts for food and entertainment, according to its website. Tencent in February acquired a 20 per cent stake in Dianping to gain access to the site's location-based shopping and entertainment services.

Zhang Tao, Dianping's founder and CEO, said in October that the firm may be worth more than US$10 billion, and he would prefer a US listing. Dianping could turn a profit as soon as this year, Zhang said at the time.

A Shanghai-based spokeswoman for Dianping declined to comment on the potential IPO.