Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME), China’s largest music-streaming firm, is now looking only to raise about US$2 billion in its US IPO public debut according to the SCMP citing people familiar with the matter.
This is a 50% drop from its initial target of US$4 billion, and could possibly reflect dismal investors’ sentiments following Tencent’s recent troubles. The latter has witnessed a huge drop in share price and is facing increasing difficulties to monetize its popular gaming services even as China has ceased from issuing gaming licenses since March this year.
There have been many Chinese media reports saying that Tencent is now at another of its crossroads again as the case 7 years ago. However, it remains to be seen whether its latest restructuring plan will allow Tencent to tide over this difficult time.
The only clear impact now is this: it has probably affected TME’s imminent IPO plan. Despite Tencent Music owning 75% of China’s music-streaming market, this operator of big names like QQ Music, KuGou, and Kuwo is only going to raise half of its previous estimates at its upcoming public debut in the US.
Takeaways
– It looks like Tencent’s ability to rebound will play a critical role at Tencent Music’s imminent public listing.
– This could also serve as a warning to other big Chinese tech players like Alibaba, JD.com, Baidu etc. The status and investors’ confidence in the parent company can have untold replications and effects on one’s subsidiaries.
Editor: Ben Jiang