Despite Rough Economic Times, Tudo Launches IPO, Lists on NASDAQ

Tudo, one of China’s largest internet companies and second largest video web site there, bravely listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in August 2011. Eleven other IPOs were postponed due to the volatility of the market, yet Tudo listed, believing that this was the right time to go public.

The Shanghai based company was looking to raise upwards of $180 million from the offering of 6 million American depositary shares (ADRs) which sold at $25.11 each, 13 percent lower than their IPO of $29, fueling investors’ fears that perhaps that was indeed not the best time for Tudo to list on the US markets.

Tudo wants to upgrade its technology, buy rights to videos, and bandwidth expansion. According to the company’s filing, it has accumulated losses $179 million since it launched in 2005. However, annual revenue has surged, and Tudo has 200 million unique visitors to its site every month. However, Todu is logged on to only second to its main rival Youku.com, which went public a year before Tudo. On Youku’s first day after its IPO its price per share jumped by 161 percent. Since then Youku’s stock price has increased almost three-fold, closing on August 17, 2011 at $27.