ALLYES AdNetwork will become the first listed Chinese Internet advertising agency, planning to float shares on Nasdaq early next year, company officials said yesterday.
The Shanghai-based company plans to use the proceeds to further expand, with forecasts showing online advertising sales should grow by 26 percent a year over the next four years.
But officials refused to comment on how much money the company plans to raise, as it has entered the "silent period" before the listing.
A report on Chinese information technology community donews.com claimed the company's market value could be more than one billion yuan (US$127 million) after the listing.
Allyes, founded in 1998, has increased its sales by nearly 100 percent each year over the past few years. Last year, IDG Technology Venture Investment and Oak Investment Partners invested 30 million yuan in Allyes.
The company has around 400 employees, of whom 200 are in Shanghai. Its customers include Pepsi Cola, Colgate and Hyundai.
Its product AdForward, a computer system for Website operators to manage their online advertising, has gained 80 percent of the Chinese market, beating foreign players like DoubleClick.
China's growing online population has turned the Internet into new marketplace for advertisers, although the sector takes just 2.3 percent of the total media advertising market.
