Tencent-backed Douyu plans IPO this year

[HONG KONG] Tencent-backed live game-streaming platform Douyu is planning to raise about US$300-400 million (S$400-532.9 million) from an IPO this year, according to people close to the deal.

According to the people, the company is leaning towards a Hong Kong listing as the city is expected to allow companies with different classes of shares to list as early as the second half of the year.

A final decision on the listing venue, however, has not been made as yet, according to the people. JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are leading the transaction.

Founded in 2013, Douyu, or "Fighting Fish", is one of the leading live game-streaming platforms in China.

According to iiMedia Research, in the third quarter of 2017, Douyu had the highest percentage of active users versus registered users among game-streaming platforms in China.

The sector has experienced rapid growth in the past few years and attracted investment from technology giants.

In a report published in December, global accounting and consultancy firm Deloitte named Douyu as the fastest-growing technology company in Asia Pacific.

The company has seen its revenue surge 708 times over the past three years, according to the report. In March 2016, Chinese tech giant Tencent led a US$100m round of investment in Douyu, in which Sequoia Capital also participated.

Douyu also raised 1.5 billion yuan (S$307.7 million) in August 2016 in a financing round led by Tencent and Phoenix Capital.

According to local media reports, Douyu raised an undisclosed amount from a CMB International-led investment in November 2017 which valued the company at more than 10 billion yuan.

Douyu could not provide immediate comment for the story when contacted by IFR.

REUTERS