(Reuters) – Chinese courier delivery firm BingEx, which brands its services as ‘FlashEx’, has filed to go public in the United States, a regulatory filing showed on Friday.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Several high-profile companies are trying to test investor appetite for IPOs following a prolonged downturn due to rising interest rates and geopolitical turmoil.
The number of Chinese companies that have pursued stock market flotations in the United States has dropped in the past few years, after ride-hailing giant Didi Global was forced to delist its shares in late 2021 following a backlash from China’s regulators.
EV maker Zeekr’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year was the first big listing by a Chinese company in the U.S. since Didi’s delisting.
CONTEXT
BingEx, citing data from iResearch, said it was the largest independent on-demand dedicated courier service provider in China according to revenue earned in 2023.
CICC, CLSA, Deutsche Bank and UBS Investment Bank are the underwriters of the offering.
BY THE NUMBERS
BingEx’s revenue rose to 4.53 billion Chinese yuan ($638.43 million) in 2023 compared with 4 billion Chinese yuan a year earlier, the IPO prospectus showed.
It reported a profit of 110.5 million Chinese yuan in023 versus a loss of 180.4 million Chinese yuan a year earlier.
The company operates in 295 Chinese cities with 88.9 million registered customers and had 2.7 million registered riders, as of June 30.
It controlled 33.9% of the total independent on-demand dedicated courier service market share in the country, as of last year.
WHAT’S NEXT
BingEx, which did not reveal the terms of its offering, is aiming to list American depositary shares (ADS) on the Nasdaq.
The company has applied to trade under the ticker symbol “FLX”.
($1 = 7.0955 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
