Xiaomi files for world's biggest IPO since 2014 in Hong Kong

Smartphone maker Xiaomi on Thursday has filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to a Bloomberg report.

It added that the Chinese company is expected to raise around $10 billion in the initial public offering that could value the business as high as $100 billion. This could be the world’s biggest IPO since 2014 when Alibaba Group raised $25 billion in the IPO filing.

The $100 billion valuation of the company is in consonance with what its executives had thought of to reach when they decide to launch an offering. Xiaomi last raised money in 2014 at a $46 billion valuation.

It was also the first time when Xiaomi reported detailed financials. It showed a net loss of 43.9 billion yuan ($6.9 billion) in 2017, reversing from a profit a year earlier. Its revenue, however, surged 67.5 percent to 114.5 billion yuan ($17.98 billion) last year.

Xiaomi has become the first company to launch an IPO in the country after Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing scrapped a ban on weighted-voting rights, which give founders and executives control even with minority ownership.

Xiaomi in India

After China, India has become the next largest market for Xiaomi. In less than three years of its launch in India, Xiaomi turned profitable in the country in the fiscal ended March 2017.

Xiaomi registered the maximum growth during FY17 with sales surging 696 per cent to Rs 8,379.3 crore. It made a profit of Rs 163.9 crore. A year ago, it had revenues of Rs 1,046.2 crore with net loss of Rs 46.9 crore.

It also set a target to hit $2 billion revenue mark in 2017, twice the amount from 2016.

The company witnessed its sales quadrupled in September quarter in India. It has emerged as the fastest growing smartphone brand in the country, according to the International Data Corporation.

The Chinese phone maker company accounted for 24 percent of India’s smartphone market in the third quarter ending September this year. This is over 7 per cent rise from the last quarter when its market share was at 17 percent.