Tencent Music, China’s largest music streamer, has reportedly invited investment bankers to pitch how they can guide the company through a U.S. IPO valued as high as $4 billion later this year.
The music arm of Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings will reportedly go public before the end of the year, according to Reuters. Tencent, which could raise $3 – $4 billion with the IPO, has declined to comment on its plans.
In December of last year, Spotify and Tencent agreed to take minority stakes in their respective companies that some reports place high as 10%. An IPO by Tencent could net Spotify tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.
The two streamers made the deal to improve their position prior to their respective public stock offerings. Spotify went public early last month.
In addition to opening up new potential opportunities for both companies, the stock deal aligned the two music streaming services in future licensing negotiations with labels and music publishers.