China’s LightInTheBox sets IPO terms, targets up to $87m

According to regulatory filing, the company plans to sell 8.3 million American Depository Shares at $8.50-10.50 apiece. This is in line with proposed target in LightInTheBox's original registration made last month.

Ceyuan Ventures holds 26.4% of the company, while GSR Ventures and Trustbridge Partners own 20.6% and 6.8%, respectively. None of the VC investors plan to sell shares in the IPO, although they will see their holdings diluted slightly as a result of the offering.

The company, which delivers Chinese products to consumers across the globe, will use the proceeds to finance business operations, which include technology infrastructure investment, launching new products and brand marketing.

Driven by the growing demand from online consumers, LightInTheBox saw its net revenues grow from $6.3 million in 2008 to $200 million in 2012.

However, it experienced a net loss of $21.9 million, $24.5 million and $4.2 million in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively. The company posted a profit of $2.6 million ending March this year.

While LightInTheBox's IPO is expected to be successful, it has been two years in the making, an indication that investor sentiment toward Chinese companies is still relatively weak. Only two firms - Vipshop and YY - managed to go public in the US last year.

Richard Liu, a partner at Morningside Technologies, which has backed YY since its inception, isn't convinced that the market will turn a corner with LightInTheBox.

"There might be more Chinese e-commerce firms looking for an IPO in the US this year, but I'm not over optimistic that the market sentiment has recovered to 2011 levels," he told AVCJ last month. "Given that LightInTheBox's capital-raising target is quite small, it is hard to take it as an indicator that investor appetite is coming back - there need to be some landmark deals for this to happen."

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• Venture
• China
• TMT
• Exit
• IPO
• Ceyuan Funds
• GSR Ventures
• Trustbridge
• Venture
• e-commerce