
A person checks out an Aihuishou store in 2020 in Shanghai. Photo: VCG
Chinese electronics reselling platform Aihuishou has fleshed out the details of its planned IPO, setting a target of $261 million.
That target would value the firm, one of the largest second-hand goods platforms in China, at a bit under $4 billion.
Aihuishou cited a laundry list of vulnerabilities in its IPO prospectus, including a deep strategic reliance on China’s No. 2 e-commerce giant JD.com.
Investors don’t seem concerned. China’s e-commerce giants are likely to keep their competitive focus on the much larger new electronics market for the time being, said one. And if Aihuishou can establish itself as a trustworthy seller of second-hand gadgetry, it would stand out from the likes of Alibaba and JD.com that compete on price and delivery and sell pretty much the same stuff.
Aihuishou’s use of both online and offline stores could help with the trust deficit that plagues the online second-hand goods market.
The firm has not hit the dazzling growth of more valuable platforms like ByteDance and Kuaishou, but its steady pace has tracked the slower growth of China’ s second-hand goods market. It reported a net loss of 470.6 million yuan ($72.5 million) last year, down from 704.9 million yuan in 2019. Meanwhile revenues rose to 4.9 billion yuan from 3.9 billion yuan, with transactions up almost 50%.
The Shanghai-based firm plans to sell 16.2 million American depositary shares at a price range of $13 to $15.
Related: Money-Losing Chinese Electronics Reseller Files for U.S. Listing
Contact reporter Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)