SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Chinese digital lottery and sports betting operator 500.com has filed for a $150m initial public offering. The Chinese operator has yet to declare how many US depositary shares it is willing to to offer in its initial filing. 500.com has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WBAI. Deutsche Bank AG is managing the offering.
The Shenzhen-based gaming operator 500.com offers betting services through the digital and mobile applications By filing for an IPO 500.com aims to raise revenues to improve its product and innovation developments. One of the fastest growing Chinese user websites 500.com and has more than doubled its users database which currently stands at +18 million, growing from 8 million in 2010.
Net income at 500.com almost doubled to 20.6 million yuan ($3.4 million) from a year earlier in the nine months through September, as sales increased 25 percent to 163.4 million yuan, the company said.
The intended IPO plans of 500.com were announced with two other Chinese based Internet businesses, 58.com Inc. and Qunar Cayman Islands aimed to complete initial offerings by the end of October 2013. If the IPO’s are completed it will see the number of U.S. IPOs by Chinese companies this year to five, a record number for Chinese corporations filing US IPO’s in an year.
