Economy

Markets

Industries

Insights

Reports

Events

Xinhua Finance Media swamped by US buyers

(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-12 16:06

Xinhua Finance Media Ltd, a provider of financial news and data on China's markets, has raised US$300 million from its American initial public offering (IPO) to pay debt and fuel strategic acquisitions.

The Shanghai-based company, whose parent company partners with and is partly owned by Xinhua News Agency, sold 23.1 million American depositary shares, or ADSs, at US$12 to US$14 each, according to the company's filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Each ADS represents two common shares. The stock will be traded on the Nasdaq exchange. Of the shares, 17.3 million ADS were new shares offered by Xinhua Finance Media. Bloomberg News reported that the company priced its shares at the midpoint of US$13, but Joy Tsang, a spokeswoman for Xinhua Finance Media, refused to confirm.

Based on the company's filling to SEC, it will bring in net proceeds of US$204 mil- lion on that price. The company said it hasn't decided on the amount to set aside for strategic acquisitions as it hasn't "entered any discussions or negotiations for potential acquisitions" yet.

Xinhua Finance Media produces and distributes television and radio programs that also cover entertainment and educational contents through Inner Mongolia Satellite Television and China Radio International.

It also sells advertising for Economic Observer newspaper and Money Journal magazine among other print media and campus billboards. Last year, the company posted net revenue of US$59 million with a net income of US$3.3 million.

Its parent company, Xinhua Finance Limited, is a Tokyo-listed financial information and media services provider, which owned 51.3 percent of the company before the IPO. Growth of China's financial markets is spurring demand for financial data.

The country's total stock market capitalization more than tripled to 10.6 trillion yuan (US$1.4 trillion) in the seven years to the end of January.