- GeneralIPO
- March 10, 2021
- 5 minutes read
Zhihu, “China’s Quora”, Files For US IPO
The latest Chinese tech company making a push to list on the US public markets is Zhihu, a popular Q&A…
The latest Chinese tech company making a push to list on the US public markets is Zhihu, a popular Q&A website in China that’s fondly referred to as the country’s version of Quora, which is the leading Q&A site in the American market.
Zhihu has submitted an F-1 filing for an IPO to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as usual for foreign companies looking to list securities on a US stock exchange. That F-1 filing provides a peek into the company’s business with information not publicly known before.
- Zhihu will sell American Depositary Shares to investors on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to become publicly-traded in the US. Three banks, namely Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan are the underwriters for the company’s imminent IPO.
- From its F-1 filing, it’s indicated that Zhihu generated the equivalent of $207 million in revenue in 2020, double what it made in the previous year 2019. Though, the company isn’t profitable, reporting a net loss of $79 million in 2020.
- Backed by roughly $900 million in venture funding, Zhihu spent big to grow to its current level and ended 2020 with over $300 million in cash and short-term investments at its hand. Additionally, the company has $167 million worth of Term deposits and $74 million of trade receivables at its reach.
- A very popular Q&A platform in China, Zhihu makes money from streams including content subscriptions and paid memberships, advertisements, and virtual gifting to user streamers with virtual currencies and goods paid for with real cash.
- Looking to trade on the NYSE, Zhihu will list under the symbol “ZH”. With an F-1 filing formally released, the company’s IPO should be expected within a few months. It’ll mark a major listing in the US for a venture-backed Chinese tech company in 2021.
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