Sina prepares Weibo for $7bn-$8bn IPO

China’s answer to Twitter, the microblogging site Weibo, is heading for a stock market listing in New York with a valuation of up to $7bn-$8bn, becoming the latest company to tap into huge investor demand for tech stocks.

Sina, which owns 71 per cent of Weibo, is looking to raise more than $500m through the deal, which is expected to complete in the second quarter, these people said. The mooted valuation of up to $7bn-$8bn for the site is well above analyst estimates. Last year Alibaba, China’s dominant ecommerce platform, paid $586m for an 18 per cent stake in Weibo, valuing it at $3.3bn.

 

One person familiar with Sina’s thinking added, however, that it was targeting a still higher valuation for Weibo, of as much as $7bn-$8bn. “This is going to be one of the biggest deals from China this year,” this person said.