Wise Talent Technology Services Co, the operator of Chinese online recruitment platform Liepin.com, on April 4 filed its prospectus for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong.
In its filing with the HKEx, the company said it plans to use the fresh capital to enhance its R&D capabilities, hire more engineers and data specialists, and increase IT investments over the next two to three years. A part of the funds will also go towards potential acquisitions or investments in assets and businesses complementary to its business, it added.
Founded in 2011 in Beijing by DAI Kebin, the former Brand Manager for Greater China at P&G, the company provides talent acquisition services, including headhunting, executive search, PRO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), online recruitment and campus recruitment.
Liepin claimed in its prospectus that it is the largest online talent services platform in China focused on mid- to high-end talent in terms of total revenue in 2017, connecting about 38.9 million individual users and 248600 verified business users, as well as 101,840 verified headhunters as of December 31, 2017.
Liepin posted revenue of RMB 825 million (about $131 million) in 2017, up 40.5 per cent from RMB 587 million ($91 million) in 2016. Its profit for the year stood at RMB 16.7 million (about $ 2.8 million). About 96.5 per cent of its revenue comes from business customers, who pay for subscription packages and transaction-based talent acquisition services.
The company raised its pre-Series A and Series A rounds of funding led by Matrix Partners in 2011. It secured a Series B round, again led by Matrix, the following year. This was followed by a Warburg Pincus-led Series C round in 2014, and a Series D led by China Mobile Fund and Matrix in 2016.
The market for mid- to high-end talent acquisition services in China in terms of total revenue reached approximately RMB 149.3 billion in 2017 and is expected to continue to grow to approximately RMB 357.4 billion in 2022, the company said.
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