Losing China Has Taken Wind Out of Xiaomi's IPO Sails
Would-be investors will have some misgivings now CDRs aren’t on the table.
Xiaomi can’t be completely blamed for putting its CDR ambitions on hold.
Photographer: Giulia Marchi/Bloomberg
Mainland investors starry-eyed about the listing of a homegrown tech company will be disappointed by Xiaomi Corp.’s decision to postpone the China half of its stock debut. You can expect moms and pops in Hong Kong to feel a bit deflated in turn. Without Chinese depositary receipts to stir interest, demand in the city will likely be more muted, too.
After nine rounds of pre-IPO funding, the Chinese smartphone maker is now the comeback kid, finally forging ahead with an initial share sale. Its Hong Kong IPO will raise between $4.7 billion and $6.1 billion before an over-allotment option is exercised, giving the company a possible valuation of $53.9 billion to $69.8 billion. With the plan to sell CDRs dropped for now, Xiaomi isn’t coming close to reaching that once-mooted figure of $100 billion.