Exclusive: Chinese e-commerce portal Yunji Weidian taps banks for U.S. IPO – source– Reuters
What happened: Chinese e-commerce portal Yunji Weidian has hired investment banks for a US IPO in early next week, Reuters reported. Yunji hopes to fetch a valuation of between $7 billion and $10 billion in the IPO, and has enlisted Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG, and JPMorgan Chase & Co to lead the listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange, the report says, citing an anonymous source
Why it’s important: Yunji Weidian is a rising e-commerce portal that claims more than 35 million active users, the source noted. Similar to Pinduoduo, Yunji Weidian achieved rapid growth by channeling the huge user base of Tencent’s giant social media app WeChat as a source for potential buyers. In addition, the two companies share another similarity in their controversial status. The industrial and commercial authority of Hangzhou fined the company for RMB 9.58 million fine last year over allegations of using pyramid schemes to grow.