Tongcheng Yilong, a Chinese online travel agency backed by the Internet giant Tencent, filed an IPO application on Thursday to go public in Hong Kong, Yicai.com reported.
According to the prospectus, Tencent, which holds a 24.92% stake in the company, is the largest shareholder. It is followed by Ctrip, currently the largest online travel agency in China, holding a 22.88% stake.
Insiders think once the company lists, Tencent, Ctrip as well as Overseas Chinese Town and Wanda Group will all benefit. In the future, the competition and cooperation between these providers of travel services will become even closer and more subtle.
At present, the main business of the company includes transportation ticketing and accommodation bookings. In 2017, the transaction volume of transportation ticketing hit 80 billion yuan (US$12.3 billion), while accommodation bookings exceeded 22.3 billion yuan.