China's top movie ticketing app seeks up to US$345m in IPO

[HONG KONG] Maoyan Entertainment, China's biggest online movie ticketing platform, is seeking to raise as much as US$345 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering.

The company is offering 132.4 million shares at HK$14.80 to HK$20.40 apiece, according to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg. Welight Capital and an affiliate of IMAX China Holding Inc agreed to buy a combined US$18 million of stock as cornerstone investors, the terms show.

China's box office sales hit a record high last year, driven by local films including "Operation Red Sea," the patriotic story of a Chinese special forces unit battling Somali pirates and terrorists. Ticket receipts rose 8 per cent to 56.6 billion yuan (S$11.32 billion), data compiled by Maoyan Movie show.

Maoyan is taking investor orders from Friday to Jan 24, when the offering is slated to price, the terms show. The company's shares are expected to start trading on Jan 31.

Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp are joint sponsors of the listing, while China Renaissance Holdings Ltd is sole financial adviser, according to a preliminary prospectus.

BLOOMBERG