Upcoming IPO: Best IPO seeks to raise $1 billion

Best Inc, a Chinese logistics company backed by Alibaba Group, seeks to raise about $1 billion in an initial public offering in New York. The upcoming Best IPO, which is expected to value the company at up to $5.7 billion according to Reuters, could be the largest float of a Chinese company in the US this year.

In June, Best announced plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange, as it looks to expand its logistics and supply chain service network in China and overseas. The company quoted iResearch data as showing that China had the world’s biggest logistics market with total logistics spending of $1.6 trillion last year. Alibaba is the group’s biggest shareholder with 23.4 percent.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Best had kicked off a roadshow with initial price guidance of between $13 and $15 per share, valuing the sale at between $807 million and $932 million. A termsheet seen by the newspaper indicates that if the greenshoe option of adding up to 15 percent more shares is fully exercised, the sale could raise up to $999.8 million. The FT further quoted bankers involved in the upcoming IPO as saying that the price range represents between 18 times and 20 times the company’s expected 2019 profits.

Bookrunners for the Best IPO are Citi, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. The roadshow, which started in Hong Kong last week, is set to continue in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco this week. The deal will be priced on September 19th, with shares set to begin trading on the 20th.

September’s IPO calendar also includes newly-formed mortgage real estate investment trust Tremont Mortgage Trust, controlled by RBR Group, which is hoping to raise $90 million in an upcoming IPO on the Nasdaq this week.