Services

Best Prices IPO Over $1 Billion

Chris Lange

Published: September 7, 2017 10:40 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 8:25 am

Best has filed an amended F-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO). The company Best intends to price its 62.1 million American depositary shares (ADSs) in the range of $13 to $15 apiece, with an overallotment option for an additional 9.315 million. Each ADS represents a single ordinary Class A share. At the maximum price, the entire offering is valued up to $1.07 billion. The company intends to list its ADSs on the New York Stock under the symbol BSTI.

The underwriters for the offering are Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Citic CLSA, KeyBank Capital Markets, Oppenheimer and Stifel.

This is a leading and fastest-growing smart supply chain service provider in China. Its multisided platform combines technology, integrated logistics and supply chain services, last-mile services and value-added services. Best Cloud, its proprietary technology platform, is the backbone that powers integrated services and solutions.

The company’s logistics and supply chain services encompass B2B and B2C supply chain management, express and less-than-truckload delivery, cross-border supply chain management and a real-time bidding platform to source truckload capacity. Its last-mile services include online merchandise sourcing and store management for convenience stores as well as B2C services. In addition, Best provides value-added services to support its ecosystem participants and help them grow.

In the filing, the company said:

Our total revenue increased by 71.5% from RMB3,065.8 million in 2014 to RMB5,256.3 million in 2015, and further increased by 68.3% to RMB8,844.1 million (US$1,304.6 million) in 2016. Our total revenue increased by 133.5% from RMB3,470.1 million in the six months ended June 30, 2016 to RMB8,104.1 million (US$1,195.4 million) in the same period in 2017. … We had net losses of RMB718.5 million, RMB1,059.4 million and RMB1,363.5 million (US$201.1 million) in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively, and RMB634.8 million and RMB624.6 million (US$92.1 million) in the six months ended June 30, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Best intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to further invest in its technology infrastructure and development, as well as for the further expansion of its integrated logistics and supply chain service network. The remainder will be put toward working capital and general corporate purposes.