Tencent-backed Kanzhun seeks up to US$912m in US IPO

[LONDON] Kanzhun , the owner of Chinese online recruitment platform Boss Zhipin, is looking to raise as much as US$912 million in its US initial public offering (IPO), braving the market at a time when many other companies are choosing to wait on the sidelines.

Kanzhun, backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, is offering 48 million American depositary shares at between US$17 and US$19 apiece, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Each ADS represents two ordinary shares.

If the company prices the stock at the top end of the range, it will be the biggest IPO by a Chinese company in the US since software firm Tuya Inc's US$947 million offering in March, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

A number of Chinese firms have put US listing plans on hold recently because of souring investor sentiment toward fast-growth companies and lackluster debuts.

The last company from the Asian nation to go public in the US, insurance tech firm Waterdrop , has slumped 30 per cent from its offering price since its debut in early May.

A bike-sharing platform, a podcaster and a cloud computing firm are among Chinese companies holding off plans for a US float after having filed publicly.

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Kanzhun developed the Boss Zhipin mobile app, which connects job seekers and employers and is China's largest online recruitment platform, according to its prospectus. Its monthly active users grew to 24.9 million in the first quarter of 2021 from 14.5 million a year earlier.

Kanzhun is still unprofitable, with its net loss narrowing to 176.2 million yuan (S$36.5 million) in the first quarter from 278.8 million yuan a year earlier. Revenue surged almost threefold to 788.5 million yuan in the period from 282.6 million yuan.

The company intends to use the proceeds from the offering for investment in technology infrastructure, and research and development.

Kanzhun will set the final price on June 10, according to a term sheet obtained by Bloomberg News, and shares will start trading the following day. Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG are leading the IPO.

BLOOMBERG