China’s Weibo sets IPO range at $17-19 with valuation of over $3.5 billion

Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, has released a pricing range for its upcoming IPO that would peg shares between $17-19, valuing the company between $3.5-$3.9 billion, The New York Times reports.

Weibo, which was spun off from Sina, is looking to sell 20 million shares in the offering, potentially raising as much as $380 million. The firm also has a separate agreement with Alibaba that will see Sina sell additional shares to the ecommerce leader.

In its filing, Weibo notes that it will use $250 million of the raised money to pay off loans from Sina and repurchase shares and options from partners. The rest will go toward a broad set of purposes, as noted in the document:

We intend to use the remainder to invest in technology, infrastructure and product development, to expand sales and marketing efforts, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

Weibo emerged as a bright star on China’s social media scene over the past few years, but its growth has been slowed by the mobile messaging trend led by Tencent’s WeChat.

This year will see some of China’s hottest technology companies list in the US. In addition to Weibo, Alibaba is also gearing up for its own IPO. Online retailer JD.com has filed for a $1.5 billion IPO.

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