Zhaogang.com (找钢网), China’s largest e-commerce platform in the steel industry, is planning to raise USD500 million in a Hong Kong IPO, according to HK-based media Sing Tao Daily. The Shanghai-based company has raised USD 379.4m million in six rounds of financing from investors including IDG Capital, Sequoia Capital and China Renaissance Private Equity Fund, according to data compiled by Crunchbase.
Founded in early 2012 by WANG Dong, the B2B platform provides free matching among stakeholders along the value chain of the local steel business, from buyers and sellers, factory retailer, warehousing, logistics services to credit and financial services. In 2015, Zhaogang.com reported a turnover of around 32 million tons. The company started to make profits in 2016 and generated over RMB30 billion in revenue and tens of millions of yuan in net revenue last year.
As the only one of its kind backed by venture capital, the company was reportedly planning to list in Shanghai’s strategic emerging industries board in 2016.
The company has a team of over 1400 employees across 29 cities in China. In 2015, WANG sets his eye on the international market. In line with China’s Belt and Road initiative, the platform set operations in South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange is planning to accept companies with duo-class shares to list in the city as early as April 2018 in a bid to lure tech companies such as Ant Financial, Xiaomi and Zhaogang.com to float there.
