YY hopes IPO on Nasdaq may raise US$97.5m

YY Inc, a Chinese online social platform, plans to raise up to US$97.5 million through an initial public offering on Nasdaq, Shanghai Daily learned yesterday.

YY, whose business covers gaming, social and online advertising, seeks to issue 7.8 million American Deposit Shares priced at US$10.50-12.50 each to raise between US$81.9 million and US$97.5 million, the firm said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

YY, which is touted as a "voiced Facebook of China" in IT circles, has 400 million users and profitable for three consecutive quarters. In the first three months of this year, YY recovered from a loss of 87.1 million yuan in the same period a year ago to a net profit of 55.95 million yuan (US$8.9 million).

"YY empowers users to create and organize groups of varying sizes to discover and participate in online activities, including online games, karaoke, music concerts, education and live shows," YY said in the filing.

Its YY Music service allows users to sing and broadcast to friends and strangers, akin to real-time cyber broadcasting.

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