Quick Take: Livestreamer Inke Passes Listing Hearing

Livestreaming platform Inke Ltd., which filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering in March, has passed its listing hearing and will start selling shares to international investors on Wednesday, Caixin has learned.

The company, valued at around 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), according to a source with knowledge of the matter, will begin pitching to Hong Kong investors on Thursday and debut on the bourse in mid-July.

The 3-year-old firm lost 239 million yuan in 2017, down from a loss of 1.47 billion yuan a year before. Its revenue declined 9% to 3.9 billion yuan last year.

The fiercely competitive industry has seen dozens of startups working to attract users who can socialize with attractive video hosts, watch others play video games, and even attend math classes.

Several of the larger video sites — most of which have rolled out livestreaming functions — have recently gone public. Online video sites Bilibili Inc. and iQiyi Inc. listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market in March. Nasdaq-listed Chinese livestreaming platform operator YY Inc. spun off its Huya Inc. gaming video unit for a separate New York listing in May. Huya’s major rival, Douyu, reportedly plans to list in Hong Kong.

Livestreaming has faced a crackdown lately on inappropriate content, such as pornography and violent images. Inke said that its Beijing subsidiary has been fined twice, for a combined 50,000 yuan, for inappropriate content broadcast by users on its app.

“We cannot assure you that we can promptly detect all illegal or inappropriate content displayed on our platform, and that we will be not be subject to similar penalties in the future,” Inke said in its listing application.

Contact reporter Coco Feng (renkefeng@caixin.com)