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Tencent Music Poised For US-Based IPO This Week
According to WeChat account IPO Zaozhidao, the listing is being underwritten by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The IPO is likely to value Tencent Music between US$29b to $31b, which will be in line with Swedish music streaming giant Spotify’s market value of US$31b.
Tencent Music is behind some of the biggest China streaming platforms in QQ Music, Kugou, and Kuwo. The three platforms had 254m, 227m and 111m mobile users respectively in Q118, data from iResearch shows. Tencent Music controlled 78% of China’s music streaming market last year.
As of last September, Tencent Music has inked partnerships with the world’s leading record companies like Universal, Warner, Sony and YG Entertainment (South Korea) for streaming their catalogs. On home turf, it has also entered into cross-licensing deals with its biggest domestic rivals NetEase Music and Ali Music Group last year to end a heated rights battle there.
Tencent Music’s IPO comes in wake of its mothership’s efforts to list its affiliates separately. Its online reading unit China Literature raised US$1.1 b after pricing its Hong Kong IPO at the top of its range early last November. China’s first online-only insurance company Zhong An, in which Tencent holds a stake, raised US$1.5b in another Hong Kong IPO. In addition, the holding company is planning for an IPO of its online healthcare unit WeDoctor.
