Xunlei Marches Down IPO Aisle 迅雷迈向IPO之路

By newsdoug on June 9, 2011

Just two months after forming a tie-up with dominant search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), video sharing site Xunlei has filed to make a Nasdaq IPO worth up to $200 million. (English article; Chinese article) I have to say I was a bit surprised by how small this company is, with first-quarter revenue clocking in at a relatively meager $14.3 million, even though that was double a year earlier. By comparison, industry leader Youku (NYSE: YOKU) was a bit bigger at nearly $20 million, showing this is clearly an industry still in its infancy. A quick glance shows that Xunlei does indeed appear better positioned than either Youku or Tudou, which is also pursuing a public listing or sale of the company. (previous post) One of the biggest things setting Xunlei apart is the fact that it is already profitable, unlike both Youku and Tudou, which are both in the red and are expected to stay there for the next year or so. The other major factor is Xunlei’s backers, which include not only Baidu but also Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). With a pedigree like that, Xunlei could easily be poised to quickly overtake the other two, especially if it uses its Baidu links to promote its service. I said previously that Xunlei itself could even be a takeover target before its IPO. (previous post) Given its need for strong ties to Baidu, I’d say that Baidu would be the more likely buyer in any pre-IPO buy-out. But Google could also try to swoop in for a buy at the last minute, much the way that it tried to do just before Baidu’s own IPO. Either way, I’d say that Xunlei looks like a good bet for anyone interested in the fast-growing China video-sharing market.

Bottom line: Xunlei looks like the most attractive bet in the China video-sharing space, boasting strong partners in Google and Baidu and a profitable business.

视频分享网站迅雷两个月前刚与百度<BIDU.O>展开合作计划，现已向美国证券交易委员会(SEC)提交了在美国市场IPO(首次公开募股)上市的申请，拟通过这项交易筹集最多2亿美元资金。不得不说我对这个公司规模之小有点意外，迅雷今年首季度营收虽已同比翻番，但仍仅有大约1,430万美元。行业龙头优酷<YOKU.N>相对较大，营收接近2,000万美元，显示整个行业仍处起步阶段。但是快速浏览後你会发现迅雷确实比优酷或土豆更有优势。迅雷鹤立鸡群的很大一点就是，不像优酷与迅雷，该网站已然有所盈利。而前两家网站仍未翻身，且未来一年左右仍会如此。再一个重要因素就是迅雷的合作夥伴除了百度还有谷歌<GOOG.O>。有这样的靠山，迅雷料可以很快超越优酷与土豆。正如我此前所说，迅雷IPO之前甚至有可能成为收购目标。鉴於其与百度建立牢固关系的必要性，我认为如果IPO前真有人收购的话，百度的可能性更大。但谷歌也有可能成为半路杀出的程咬金，当年百度IPO时，谷歌就有类似做法。而无论从哪个角度，我认为如有人对中国迅速发展的视频分享市场感兴趣，迅雷都是一个很好的赌注。

一句话：迅雷看似是中国视频分享市场最具吸引力的赌注，不仅有百度与谷歌这样雄厚的合作夥伴，而且业务已有盈利。