Xiaomi filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong and is targeting a $100 billion valuation, South China Morning Post reports, citing sources familiar with the development. The Beijing-based original equipment manufacturer is said to be hoping to raise some $10 billion in funding as part of the 15th largest IPO of all time and the most valuable tech float since Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba went public in 2014. Xiaomi has been unwilling to confirm its IPO ambitions so far, even as reports of its ambitions to tap into the capital from the public markets have been circulating the industry on an almost weekly basis for the better part of the last twelve months. If the firm now truly started formal proceedings, its investor roadshow should follow in the coming weeks.
Some analysts are speculating that Xiaomi’s IPO is likely to result in oversubscribed offerings as Hong Kong investors resort to heavy borrowing in order to purchase as many shares of one of the world’s most valuable startups as they can, consequently stifling the local equity market. In late 2014, Xiaomi was valued at some $45 billion, with many industry watchers expressing skepticism about that figure after the company missed sales targets the following year and continued struggling in 2016, having declined in a particularly significant manner in its home country where it’s now behind Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo in terms of handset sales.
The tech giant then enjoyed an immense year of growth in India, the world’s only remaining smartphone market that’s both massive and still isn’t showing any signs of saturation. Its performance in the South Asian country is what returned Xiaomi on the path of global success, allowing it to continue investing in international expansion while simultaneously trying to grow sales in China. The company’s reported IPO filing didn’t come with any financial performance data attached but such figures are likely to be revealed in the coming weeks before Xiaomi officially debuts on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.