NewFanli mulls China IPO, aims for 100 billion yuan of online trading
Fanli.com gets a commission by directing shoppers to reputable online stores, and claims to have about 140 million customers, spending 30 billion yuan on its platform last year.
Fanli.com, a Shanghai-based directory for online shopping funded by Walt Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, said it is considering an initial public offering on China’s A-shares market.
“The accelerated IPO pace in China heightened our hopes for a share sale at home,” said the company’s founder and chief executive Gary Ge Yongchang, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
A domestic listing could help the Shanghai-based company with its target to more than triple the transaction value on its online platform to 100 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) by 2020. Founded in 2006, Fanli earns a commission by directing shoppers to reputable online stores, and using cashback rebates to attract them.
Among a dozen of so-called Chinese unicorns, or privately held technology firms surpassing US$1 billion in valuations, Fanli (返利) claims to have about 140 million customers, spending 30 billion yuan on its platform last year, a 40 per cent growth from 2015.
Three of China’s largest internet technology companies – Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holdings and Baidu – have all chosen either the US or Hong Kong as the market for raising their capital.
That is a trend the Chinese market regulator is trying to change, as it offers incentives and fast-track procedures to attract Ant Financial, Zhong An Online Property & Casualty Insurance and other technology companies to list on either the Shanghai or Shenzhen exchanges.