Tencent-backed virtual social playground Soulgate withdraws IPO plans

Soulgate Inc., a Shanghai-based virtual social playground backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/207908563/delayed TCEHY +3.86% /zigman2/quotes/204605823/delayed HK:700 +3.50% , has filed to withdraw it's plans for an initial public offering. The company did not provide a reason for the withdrawal, and just said its decision was "consistent with the public interest and protection of investors." The company had first filed an F-1 Registration Statement for the IPO on the Nasdaq on May 10. On June 17, Soulgate amended the F-1 to say it planned to offer 13.2 million American depositary shares in the IPO, which was expected to price between $13 and $15, to raise about $198.0 million. The company said the 13.2 million ADS being offered represented 19.8 Class A ordinary shares. Based on that multiple, and with 145.43 million Class A ordinary shares and 35.81 million Class B ordinary shares expected to be outstanding after the IPO, the expected pricing would have valued the company at up to about $1.8 billion. The withdrawal comes at a relatively rough time for IPO investors, as the Renaissance IPO ETF /zigman2/quotes/207665280/composite IPO -0.48% has plunged 44.5% year to date, while the iShares MSCI China ETF /zigman2/quotes/206267952/composite MCHI +3.14% has shed 13.4% and the S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX -0.23% has declined 13.8%.