eLong plans US$59 million NASDAQ IPO
13 October 2004
Online travel firm eLong Inc plans to raise up to US$59 million in the latest NASDAQ IPO by a Chinese firm, state media reported. The company is looking to follow rival Ctrip.com, whose shares are up 117% from their December NASDAQ listing which raised US$75.6 million. According to the China National Tourism Administration, China's travel industry was worth US$47 billion in 2002, although the sector is highly fragmented among 11,500 travel agencies. Loss-making eLong is the latest Chinese online firm to look to US investors to fund growth. In September Chinese online recruitment firm 51job Inc. raised US$73.5 million in a NASDAQ IPO.
