China’s fourth-placed social network 51.com had planned to go public in 2010. Now some investors are reportedly getting itchy to make the IPO happen this year.
51.com, which has 200 million users and recently expanded to add games, has 10.4 percent of the Chinese social networking market, according to Analysys International.
TechNode: “According to a Nielsen research in 2008, 51.com was then the biggest social networking site in China.”
Sohu: “Sources say that both the number of 51.com users and the company’s performance have recently begun to decline, and investors are quickly backing out.”
51.com has attracted big money, over $76 million since 2008, from mostly U.S. investors, including Sequoia, Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Capital and Red Dot.
Market leader Renren raised $734.4 million in a Nasdaq float in May.