Mtone Wireless, a mainland provider of mobile phone data services, has filed to raise US$55 million through a Nasdaq listing despite the recent market debut flops of rivals Linktone and Tom Online.
The firm is coming to market amid increased investor scepticism towards China plays as a host of companies offering similar services compete for capital.
'Every time one of those guys lists, the bar gets higher for the next guy,' Latitude Capital Group managing director Frank Au said.
Last year, mainland portals NetEase.com, Sina.com and Sohu.com were among the best Nasdaq performers, largely due to huge earnings growth on booming wireless data services.
This prompted share offerings by Linktone and Tom Online, which were hoping to benefit from investor enthusiasm towards mainland internet stocks.
Linktone closed at US$10.03 on Monday, 28.35 per cent below its debut price. Shares in Tom Online finished at HK$1.20 yesterday, down 20 per cent since listing.
Merrill Lynch is leading the Mtone offer. Piper Jaffray and Needham are co-underwriters.
