Weibo Launches Global Offering of 11 Million Shares, No Higher Than $49.75 Per Share

On Monday, Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo announced plans to sell 11 million shares globally through its IPO in Hong Kong, including 5.5 million new shares and 5.5 million sales shares, depending on whether the over-allotment shares are exercised or not. Among them, 1.1 million shares are offered in Hong Kong and 9.9 million shares are offered internationally, with another 15% of over-allotted shares.

According to the announcement, Weibo will offer shares from November 29 to December 2, and the expected pricing date is December 2. The public offering price will not exceed HK $388 ($49.75) per share. Besides, the company expected that Class A ordinary shares will officially start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 8.

Previously, on November 18, the listing documents of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) showed that Weibo had passed its listing hearing, and that the co-sponsors of the listing were Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, CLSA and CICC.

It is worth mentioning that in terms of equity relationship, Sina and Alibaba are the most important shareholders of Weibo at present – Sina holds 44.4% of the company’s equity while Alibaba holds 29.6%. As of September 30, 2021, Charles Cao Guowei, Chairman of Weibo, held about 70.6% of the total voting rights in the company.

SEE ALSO: Weibo Passes HKEx Listing Hearing, Revenue Increased by 30% YoY in Q3

According to Weibo’s latest financial report for the third quarter of 2021, its revenue reached $607 million, up 30% year-on-year. In addition to the revenue exceeding expectations, the microblogging platform’s number of users also saw a substantial increase. In September 2021, the number of monthly active users on Weibo reached 573 million, and the proportion from its mobile app reached 94%. The number of daily active users reached 248 million. In the advertising and marketing business, revenue reached $538 million in the third quarter, achieving a 29% increase and accounting for 88.63% of total revenue.

According to public information, Weibo has invested in nearly 200 enterprises, covering more than 20 fields, mainly participating in the early financing before A round funding, among which advertising marketing is an important field of Weibo layout. In the previously disclosed third quarter financial report, advertising and marketing business are also the most important revenue components of Weibo.