China’s leading dating website to get listed on Nasdaq: report

• Source: Global Times
• [17:19 November 25 2010]
• Comments

Jiayuan.com, China’s leading dating website, has recruited Price Waterhouse Coopers for its auditing and preparation to get listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, according to a tech.qq.com report Thursday, citing sources close to the deal.

According to the source, the website is expected to get listed in the first half of 2011 and plans to raise about $100 million. If the deal can be completed, it will become China’s first listed dating website.

As early as July 2008, the website’s CEO, Gong Haiyan, disclosed that the company was planning to get listed on the Nasdaq in three years.

According to data from iresearch.cn, from 2008 to now, the market share of Jiayuan.com has maintained at nearly 50 percent. In 2007, the company’s revenue was of less than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million); in 2009, it reached 80 million yuan ($12.03 million), and this year, it is expected to exceed 100 million yuan.

An analyst said that the dating website is a brand-oriented industry, and once a company forms a leading position in brand, market value, traffic and incomes, it is hard for the second to catch up.

While another analyst believed that dating websites point to a bright future only superficially. And under low profitability, keeping on track is difficult for such companies.