China’s 58 Home seeks US$2bil IPO

HONG KONG: 58 Home, owned by China’s Craigslist equivalent 58.com Inc, is close to completing a private fundraising en route to a United States initial public offering (IPO) that could value the online services platform at as much as US$2bil, people familiar with the matter say.

The business, known locally as 58 Daojia, is seeking funds to bankroll an expansion into China’s competitive online services arena. It’s now wrapping up a pre-IPO financing round at a valuation of more than US$1bil, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private. Once that’s done, 58 Home intends to prepare for a US debut in which it will seek a valuation of between US$1.5bil and US$2bil, one of the people said.