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Chinese online grocers MissFresh and Dingdong Maicai file for the US IPO

June 9, 2021 9:16 am

Chinese online grocer MissFresh and Dingdong Maicai have filed for an initial public offering in the US on Tuesday.

Details: Missfresh plans to list its American depositary shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol MF, and seeks to raise $100 million in the IPO. The Tencent-backed company said it had grown its number of users from 5.1 million people in 2018 to 7.9 million to the 12 months ended March 31. 

It listed sales of $236 million in the three months ended in March, and a net loss of $93 million, or $1.12 a share, in the same period. Net losses for 2020 reached $3.35 a share. Underwriters include JP Morgan and Citi.

Dingdong Maicai, backed by investors including Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management and SoftBank, also filed for a US IPO on Tuesday. The company plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "DDL", according to its filing. 

Last month, Dingdong Maicai just raised $330 million in its latest round of fundraising led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund.

Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Credit Suisse and Mission Capital are underwriters for the offering, Dingdong said.

Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has driven online demand for fresh produce in China. E-commerce companies including MissFresh, Dingdong, Alibaba, and Pinduoduo are all actively competing to gain a foothold in this vast market.

The two companies filed prospectuses at the same time, proving that they are seeking more funds to compete in the crowded industry.

In 2020, the IPOs of Chinese companies on US exchanges hit a 10-year high. According to a study by the University of Florida, a total of 32 Chinese companies went public in the US, the most since 2011. It is estimated that these companies have raised $12.1 billion through IPOs.