Tencent Music plans IPO for second half of 2018

Tencent Music Entertainment Group, China's largest music-streaming company, is planning to file an initial public offering for the second half of 2018, following the successful debut of the company's European counterpart, Spotify Technology SA, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The Chinese internet giant's digital music business will interview potential underwriting banks sometime in May, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The deal, which would be one of the largest tech offerings ever, is expected to raise billions, considered the latest sign the IPO market is gaining steam.

Tencent Music's offering could value the business in excess of $25 billion, a sharp jump from its $12.5 billion valuation in late 2017 when Spotify, a Swedish music-streaming company, bought a 9 percent stake in the company as part of a share swap.

The deal would be the fourth-biggest US-listed tech IPO on record measured by valuation at time of offering, should investors give Tencent Music that value, according to Dealogic.

Tencent Music is expected to list in the United States, but the final decision on the venue of the deal is not yet determined.

Established in mid-2016, Tencent Music, an operator of the popular music app QQ Music and others, had 700 million monthly active users across personal computer and mobile platforms largely in China, the company said.