Dada Nexus, a leading on-demand retail and delivery platform in China, filed on Tuesday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. However, this is likely a placeholder for a deal we estimate could raise up to $500 million.
Dada Nexus operates JD-Daojia, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms by gross merchandise vlaue in 2019, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform in China by number of orders in 2019. In 2016, JD.com and Walmart invested $250 million, and Dada Nexus entered collaboration agreements with the companies for support with user traffic, supply chain, marketing, its omni-channel initiative, and expansion plan.
The Shanghai, China-based company was founded in 2014 and booked $518 million in revenue for the 12 months ended March 31, 2020. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol DADA. Dada Nexus filed confidentially on December 5, 2019. Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, and Jefferies are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.
