By Tang Guhan
China Mobile, SF Express, and another five companies have been nailed down as the cornerstone investors for Xiaomi’s IPO, as reported by Hong Kong media on Thursday morning.
China Mobile bought $100 million while SF Express bought $30 million worth of Xiaomi’s shares.
The other five investors were Qualcomm Incorporated, CICFH Entertainment, CDB Private Equity, the China Poly Group Corporation and the China Merchants Group, with an investment amount of $100 million, $192 million, $66 million, $32 million and $28 million respectively.
The seven cornerstone investors have close connections with Xiaomi Inc. in their businesses of the Internet of Things (IoT) and logistics among others.
While Xiaomi is seeking floatation in Hong Kong, it has decided to suspend issuance of the CDR in the Chines mainland. The company mulled it over and decided going public in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland separately this Tuesday.
Some Analysts assumed the divergence of views for the valuation of Xiaomi has led to this decision as it would be wise for the company to get a stable valuation before going back to the A-shares market.
While others believed it would be risky for Xiaomi to float in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland simultaneously.
The valuation of Xiaomi this time was swinging between a range of $55 billion and $70 billion, which was lower than the range of $80 billion and $94 billion expected by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and other financial institutions.
The operating income of Xiaomi reached RMB 34.412 billion in the first quarter, with net profits of RMB1.699 billion, as released in the company’s prospectus.
