SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--People's Daily Online Co., the operator of the People's Daily website, plans to raise up to CNY800 million in an initial public offering in Shanghai early this year, the China Daily reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed source.
The website operator plans to issue 40 million A shares at CNY15-CNY20 each and plans to use the proceeds to diversify its website business, the newspaper said.
People's Daily Online is now at the final stage of bringing in strategic investors, the paper said. It has been in talks with more than 10 potential investors from China and has reached agreements with China Mobile Ltd, China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., China Telecom Corp., China Life Insurance Co.and some domestic private-equity firms, the paper said.
The company also plans to expand into wireless value-added services, online video and opinion polls to boost revenue, the paper said. The IPO would make the company the first news website operator to be listed in the domestic market, the paper added.
People's Daily Online had a 2009 net profit of CNY22 million, the paper said.
Citic Securities Co. will underwrite the IPO, the paper said.
