HONG KONG: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi filed documents Thursday with Hong Kong’s stock exchange operator for an initial public offering that could be the world’s biggest share sale in years.
Beijing-based Xiaomi is the world’s fourth-biggest smartphone maker by shipment volume, according to International Data Corp.
The listing documents provided no financial details about the share sale or the company’s valuation. The newspaper South China Morning Post cited unnamed banking sources saying Xiaomi plans to raise up to $10 billion, which would value the company at $100 billion.
That would make it the biggest IPO since Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s $21.8 billion IPO in 2014 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Xiaomi, founded in 2010, has grown quickly on the strength of smartphone handsets priced as low as $115 and Internet-based marketing and distribution.
