IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

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Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

Equity Capital Markets

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cloud-village-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33412:1" rel="noopener">Cloud Village (CLV HK)</a> is the second-largest online music platform after <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-music-entertainment" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27255:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Music (TME US)</a> as measured by users and revenue in China. The cornerstone product is <em>NetEase Cloud Music</em> that delivers diverse music and music-inspired content and provides interactive community features. Cloud Village has filed for HKEx IPO to raise $1 billion, according to press reports.</p><p>Founded by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/netease-inc-adr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:17203:1" rel="noopener">NetEase Inc (NTES US)</a>, <em>NetEase Cloud Music</em>, has been operating as a stand-alone business since October 2016. NetEase owns 62.46% of the outstanding shares. The other shareholders include CMC Capital Partners, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:179:1" rel="noopener">Baidu (BIDU US)</a>, General Atlantic, Boyu Capital, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group-holding-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:787:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (BABA US)</a> and Yunfeng Capital. </p><div class="content-highlight"><p>At first sight, Cloud Village performance seems poor as its high growth has come at the cost of losses at the gross profit level and cash burn. However, Cloud Village is on the cusp of turning around its performance due to a fundamental change in its cost structure along with rising monetisation. Also, the recent exit of Alibaba’s music platform (<em>Xiami</em>) and Tencent Music’s increased regulatory scrutiny on anti-trust grounds should provide a boost. Overall, we think that Cloud Village has the potential to shed its underdog status vs the much larger Tencent Music.  </p></div>

Cloud Village (CLV HK) is the second-largest online music platform after Tencent Music (TME US) as measured by users and revenue in China. The cornerstone product is NetEase Cloud Music that delivers diverse music and music-inspired content and provides interactive community features. Cloud Village has filed for HKEx IPO to raise $1 billion, according to press reports.Founded by NetEase Inc (NTES US), NetEase Cloud Music, has been operating as a stand-alone business since October 2016. NetEase owns 62.46% of the outstanding shares. The other shareholders include CMC Capital Partners, Baidu (BIDU US), General Atlantic, Boyu Capital, Alibaba Group (BABA US) and Yunfeng Capital. At first sight, Cloud Village performance seems poor as its high growth has come at the cost of losses at the gross profit level and cash burn. However, Cloud Village is on the cusp of turning around its performance due to a fundamental change in its cost structure along with rising monetisation. Also, the recent exit of Alibaba’s music platform (Xiami) and Tencent Music’s increased regulatory scrutiny on anti-trust grounds should provide a boost. Overall, we think that Cloud Village has the potential to shed its underdog status vs the much larger Tencent Music.  

Cloud Village (NetEase Music) IPO Initiation: Musical Shares

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ximalaya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33232:1" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA US)</a>, the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. </p></div><div><p>As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.</p></div><div>
<p>We have covered various aspects of the deal in our previous notes:<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-positives-a-whole-lot-of-listening" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a></p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-positives-a-whole-lot-of-listening" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening</a><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-negatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a>
</li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-negatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Negatives</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-peer-comparison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-xima-has-large-market-share-but-small-competitors-have-big-bosses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA): Has Large Market Share, But Small Competitors Have Big Bosses</a></li>
</ul>
</div><div><p>In this note, we will talk about earnings and valuation.</p></div>

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.
We have covered various aspects of the deal in our previous notes:


 Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Negatives
Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison
Ximalaya (XIMA): Has Large Market Share, But Small Competitors Have Big Bosses

In this note, we will talk about earnings and valuation.

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Earnings Forecast and Valuation

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ximalaya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33232:1" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA US)</a>, the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. </p></div><div><p>As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.</p></div><div><p>In our previous notes,<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-positives-a-whole-lot-of-listening" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening</a>, and  <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-negatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Negatives</a> we have covered the positive and negative aspects of the deal.</p></div><div><p>In this note, we will compare Ximalaya with some of its listed peers.</p></div>

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.In our previous notes, Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening, and  Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Negatives we have covered the positive and negative aspects of the deal.In this note, we will compare Ximalaya with some of its listed peers.

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ximalaya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33232:1" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA US), which</a> is backed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a>, is getting ready to complete its IPO in the United States in the next several weeks. Ximalaya is the largest online audio platform in China in terms of MAU. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/chinese-podcast-startup-ximalaya-files-us-ipo-2021-04-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya</a> was last valued at $3.7 billion in July 2018. The main underwriters of the IPO include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, and CICC. </p><p>The company generated sales of 4.1 billion RMB (up 51.3% YoY) and gross profit of 2.0 billion RMB (up 70.3% YoY). From 2018 to 2020, the company's sales increased by 65.7% CAGR. The company's sales continued to accelerate by 65.2% YoY in 1Q 2021. The increasing sales growth has been accompanied by improving profit margins.</p>

Ximalaya (XIMA US), which is backed by Tencent (700 HK), is getting ready to complete its IPO in the United States in the next several weeks. Ximalaya is the largest online audio platform in China in terms of MAU. Ximalaya was last valued at $3.7 billion in July 2018. The main underwriters of the IPO include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, and CICC. The company generated sales of 4.1 billion RMB (up 51.3% YoY) and gross profit of 2.0 billion RMB (up 70.3% YoY). From 2018 to 2020, the company's sales increased by 65.7% CAGR. The company's sales continued to accelerate by 65.2% YoY in 1Q 2021. The increasing sales growth has been accompanied by improving profit margins.

Ximalaya IPO Preview - Creating the Joe Rogans of China

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ximalaya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33232:1" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA US)</a> is the largest online audio platform in China as measured by average MAUs (monthly active users), total mobile listening time, and total revenues in 2020, according to CIC. Ximalaya also has the largest audio content library and the most audio content creators in China. <br>Ximalaya is backed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a> (5.4% of outstanding shares), <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tal-education-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1124:1" rel="noopener">TAL Education (TAL US)</a> and Sony Music Entertainment. Ximalaya has filed for an NYSE IPO to raise proceeds of $0.5-1.0 billion, according to press reports. </p><p>China is the world’s largest online audio market in terms of the number of online audio users. However, the number of mobile online audio MAUs (monthly active users) in China accounted for only 16.1% of total mobile Internet MAUs in 2020, according to CIC. China’s online audio market in terms of revenue is forecasted to grow from RMB13.1 billion in 2020 to RMB120.1 billion by 2025, representing a CAGR of 55.8%, according to CIC.</p><div class="content-highlight">
<p>At first glance, Ximalaya is well-positioned to benefit from this sizeable market opportunity. The strong user engagement, fast-paced revenue growth and declining loss margin suggest that Ximalaya is heading in the right direction. However, a closer look reveals concerning developments on several fronts.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lizhi-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28396:1" rel="noopener">Lizhi Inc (LIZI US)</a>, a peer, is trading around 50% below its IPO price which suggests that investors are not overly enthused by plays on the China online audio market. With sentiment on Chinese US listings weakening, we think that the negatives in the Ximalaya story warrant a pass.  </p>
</div>

Ximalaya (XIMA US) is the largest online audio platform in China as measured by average MAUs (monthly active users), total mobile listening time, and total revenues in 2020, according to CIC. Ximalaya also has the largest audio content library and the most audio content creators in China.  Ximalaya is backed by Tencent (700 HK) (5.4% of outstanding shares), TAL Education (TAL US) and Sony Music Entertainment. Ximalaya has filed for an NYSE IPO to raise proceeds of $0.5-1.0 billion, according to press reports. China is the world’s largest online audio market in terms of the number of online audio users. However, the number of mobile online audio MAUs (monthly active users) in China accounted for only 16.1% of total mobile Internet MAUs in 2020, according to CIC. China’s online audio market in terms of revenue is forecasted to grow from RMB13.1 billion in 2020 to RMB120.1 billion by 2025, representing a CAGR of 55.8%, according to CIC.
At first glance, Ximalaya is well-positioned to benefit from this sizeable market opportunity. The strong user engagement, fast-paced revenue growth and declining loss margin suggest that Ximalaya is heading in the right direction. However, a closer look reveals concerning developments on several fronts.
Lizhi Inc (LIZI US), a peer, is trading around 50% below its IPO price which suggests that investors are not overly enthused by plays on the China online audio market. With sentiment on Chinese US listings weakening, we think that the negatives in the Ximalaya story warrant a pass.  


China

Lizhi Inc. provides an audio ecosystem platform. The Company develops an audio-based social networking product offering, including Tiya App, caters to users evolving interest in social interactions in real time online and enables users to connect with friends having similar interests, entertain, chat online, and share their daily lives through voices.

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Lizhi (LIZI US)

Cloud Village (NetEase Music) IPO Initiation: Musical Shares

Cloud Village has filed for HKEx IPO to raise $1 billion, according to press reports. We think that Cloud Village has the potential to shed its...

Arun George

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Earnings Forecast and Valuation

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m...

Sumeet Singh

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m MAUs...

Sumeet Singh

Ximalaya IPO Preview - Creating the Joe Rogans of China

Ximalaya is the largest online audio platform in China which is getting ready to complete its IPO in the next several weeks.

Douglas Kim

Ximalaya IPO Initiation: Out of Tune

At first glance, Ximalaya is well-positioned to benefit from the sizeable China online audio market opportunity. However, a closer look reveals...

Arun George

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