Chinese online video platform Bilibili debuts on Nasdaq

Bilibili Inc., a Chinese online platform for animated video, rang the Nasdaq Stock Market opening bell on Wednesday in celebration of its initial public offering (IPO).

A netizen browses the website of China's popular video site bilibili.com on his computer in Tianjin on October 10, 2017. [Photo: IC]

Bilibili, trading under the ticker symbol of "BILI", priced its IPO of 42,000,000 American depositary shares (ADSs), at 11.50 U.S. dollars per ADS for a total offering size of approximately 483 million dollars, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs.

Each ADS represents one Class Z ordinary share of the Company.

Bilibili started trading at 9.80 U.S. dollars per share on Wednesday, erasing 14.8 percent from its pricing, and was traded at 10.6 dollars apiece around midday.

"The money raised will be used to improve the website's IT infrastructure, fund more content creators and hire more staff," said Chen Rui, Bilibili's chairman and CEO, on Wednesday.

Launched in June 2009, Bilibili has evolved from a content community inspired by anime, comics and games (ACG) into a full-spectrum online entertainment platform covering a wide array of genres and media formats, including videos, live broadcasting and mobile games.

Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan are the joint book runners on the deal.