Tencent plans Singapore IPO for WeChat spin-off: report
Tencent is planning to spin off its instant messaging business, WeChat, for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), with the listing location potentially chosen as Singapore due to fewer local restrictions. Tencent has already set up an office in Singapore to handle the spin-off transaction of WeChat. It was indicated that Tencent originally planned to list WeChat in Hong Kong, but after considering the issues arising from a spin-off in the same market, they decided otherwise.
On August 5th, WeChat officially released version 5.0, launching its payment system and gaming platform. The first WeChat game, "Everyday Love Elimination," climbed to the top of the App Store's free rankings within five hours of its release. By August 13th, it still held the championship position. On the App Store's best-seller list, the game's ranking rose to second place. Yesterday, Tencent disclosed that the download volume of "Everyday Love Elimination" reached 20 million in the first three days of its release. This has proven that WeChat will become the most important distribution platform in the mobile gaming market.
Huge user base is WeChat's biggest trump card. WeChat currently has 400 million domestic users and 70 million overseas users. Currently, communication applications are shining globally, with mainstream social communication apps like WhatsApp, LINE, KakaoTalk, and KiK having user bases in the hundreds of millions. According to previous disclosures, LINE has over 200 million users, WhatsApp has 195 million active monthly users, and KakaoTalk has broken through the 100 million mark. Meanwhile, the veteran social website Facebook reported 819 million mobile users in the second quarter.
These products with user bases in the hundreds of millions have successfully commercialized early on. For instance, LINE’s revenue in Q2 this year reached 9.77 billion yen (approximately 1.013 billion USD), representing a 66.9% increase from the previous quarter. In-game purchases were the main driver of LINE's revenue growth, accounting for 53%, while sticker sales amounted to 274 million USD, or 27%. Another major global competitor of WeChat, KakaoTalk, disclosed last month that their current monthly income has exceeded 30 million USD. Facebook's mobile advertising revenue accounts for 30% of its total advertising revenue. These revenue performances all indicate a promising financial future for WeChat.