China’s biggest online movie ticketer, backed by Tencent, files for IPO

China’s biggest online movie ticketer, backed by Tencent, files for IPO

Chinese internet giant Tencent is up to something again in the ticketing business. The company, indeed, backs China’s largest online movie-ticket seller, Maoyan, which has just filed for its initial public offering in Hong Kong.

Maoyan has yet to reveal how much it will raise or at what valuation. Anyway, according to regulatory filings, it comprised more than 60% of China’s market for online ticket sales in the first half of 2018. The company has operated at a loss for the past three years, though these losses narrowed between 2015 and 2017 - but the trend reversed in the first half of 2018 when losses widened again.