Xiaomi filed for the world’s biggest IPO in 2014 under the new IPO rules of Hong Kong. It has also become the first major company to abide by the new rules that allow companies with different share classes to the listing in the city.
The Xiaomi IPO filing didn’t reveal any target amount for the smartphone maker. However, people with knowledge of the case said that at least $10 billion could be expected to raise from the listing. They as well stated that this could take the business value to as high as $100 billion.
Xiaomi reported a net loss of 43.9 billion Yuan or $6.9 billion for the year 2017. Although, the revenue of 114.5 billion Yuan had been there as the makeup of 67.5% in the last year. Its listing in Hong Kong IPO opens up the city to rival the American market.
Considering that, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. would be celebrating Xiaomi’s filing. Its officials went through some tedious past years in fighting a ban on weighted-voting rights. These rights give founders and executives control, even when they have minority ownership.
Xiaomi is expected to issue Chinese depository receipts when it goes public. Citic Securities from the homeland will be handling the CDR issuance. The nation’s State Council has already approved the plans regarding CDR, although timing and details are yet to be disclosed. CLSA of Citic Securities is a joint sponsor of the IPO along with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs,
Co-founder and CEO Lei Jun said in a recent interview that CDRs are ‘an excellent idea’ and ‘a great policy invention.’ Under his leadership, the company is on a spree to enter developed market smartphones and is also consolidating itself in emerging markets. Last year saw it enter Spain, and presently talks are going on with U.S. carriers to sell devices on the American turf.
Alongside making smartphones, Xiaomi is into backing startups as well. It invested in dozens of startups to cover a broad range of products, starting from wearables to rice cookers, electric bikes and more. The entire ecosystem has displayed a total sales of 20 billion Yuan for 2017, which is double of the same from the previous year.
