Qihoo Tops Chinese IPOs in U.S. This Year

HONG KONG—Qihoo 360 Technology Co. raised $175 million In the biggest initial public offering by a Chinese company in the U.S. this year, as the security software maker prepares to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Qihoo 360 is one of the top providers of antivirus software in China, home to the largest Internet user base in the world. Qihoo makes money primarily from online advertising and Internet value-added services, in which the company offers Web games developed by third parties or provides Internet security services such as remote technical support to paying customers, among others.
A person familiar with the deal said Wednesday it was 40 times oversubscribed.
In a filing to the New York Stock Exchange, the company said Tuesday it priced its sale of 12.1 million American depositary shares at the top of a revised $13.50-$14.50 indicative price range. It had raised the price range to $10.50-$12.50 earlier this week.
Qihoo 360 will have roughly 175 million ordinary shares outstanding after the offering.
Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG are joint bookrunners on the Qihoo 360 deal.
The company plans to use the proceeds of the offering to develop new products, enhance research and development and invest in or acquire other businesses or technologies.
Qihoo 360's profit doubled to $8.5 million last year as revenue jumped 79%.
Five Chinese companies have raised a total of just $174 million from U.S. listings so far this year, according to data provider Dealogic. Of the five, only the $6 million IPO of China Century Dragon Media Inc. and the $36 million IPO of Prime Acquisition Corp. weren't priced at the bottom—or below—the indicative price range. Those deals were much smaller than that of Qihoo 360.
Many Chinese companies conducted IPOs in the U.S. last year and met with strong U.S. investor demand. In 2010, four of the five best IPO debuts on U.S. exchanges were Chinese companies. However, the five worst debuts were also China-based companies.


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