After two false starts by its rivals, NIP Group Inc. is aiming to win the race to become China’s first listed e-sports company to cross the IPO finish line.
The firm, formed by a merger last year between Sweden’s Ninjas in Pyjamas and China’s ESV5, filed last week for a New York listing, without giving any fundraising target. But the prospectus did list the IPO’s underwriters, which totaled six, including such relatively well-known names as leading Chinese investment bank CICC, Europe’s Deutsche Bank, and the investment banking arm of Tiger Brokers, one of China’s leading online brokers.
The inclusion of so many underwriters, and some relatively big names, usually indicates a fairly large offering, since they will ultimately split the listing fees. But NIP looks quite small to be valued at anything higher than $400 million – a figure we’ll detail later – and that’s only if the company gets a relatively strong valuation.