China-Based iQiyi Prices Its IPO Mid-Range At $18, Begins Trading Today

Morning Report: iQiyi, the Baidu-backed video company, priced its IPO mid-range at $18 per share, raising billions.

This morning, we have a quick IPO update for you. iQiyi priced its IPO at $18 per share, mid-range between its proposed range of $17 and $19 per share. The firm raised $2.25 billion in the transaction. iQiyi’s shares have yet to open this morning. We’ll update this post later with the firm’s first-day performance.

What to know about iQiyi? The video-focused firm raised $1.9 billion (per Crunchbase) as a private company. It needed the huge capital base, and its IPO haul, due to its unprofitability. The firm’s operating loss in 2017, for example, came to $607.6 million.

Still, with an enormous hunk of cash in its pocket, the firm now has quite a lot more firepower than it did earlier this week.

Sticking to the topic, lost amidst the rest of the news was the recent debut of Bilibili, another China-based firm that listed in the United States this week. The firm priced at $11.50, raising just under $500 million in its IPO. It also priced mid-range. Today, after one full day’s trading, the firm is worth $11.37 per share after a rough start to its public life.

Bilibili, a “video-sharing and game site” according to Crunchbase, raised just a few dozen million as a private company.

We’ll have more once the companies’ newly-public shares settle and market cap numbers harmonize a bit. For now, that’s two more 2018 IPOs in the bag.

From The Crunchbase Daily:

DocuSign files for IPO

• DocuSign is, at last, going public. A new filing details the 15-year-old digital signature firm’s recent financial performance, showing quick subscription revenue growth, improving margins, and stiff losses.

Silver Lake buys $500M Credit Karma stake

• Private equity firm Silver Lake is buying a $500 million stake in credit score unicorn Credit Karma from existing shareholders in a massive secondary round.

IQiyi raises $2.25B in market debut

• Another big IPO hits the market. IQiyi, the Netflix of China, has raised $2.25 billion in an initial public offering on Nasdaq. The Beijing-based company priced shares at the midpoint of its projected range.

Root Insurance drives away with $51M

• Root Insurance, a startup that provides auto insurance quotes based on driver behavior, has raised $51 million in a Series C round led by Redpoint Ventures.