中國“獨角獸”企業(yè)上市前融資數(shù)字遭質疑

Jianpu Technology, the Chinese financial comparison site poised to list later this year, has been stripped of its status as a “unicorn” worth $1bn after regulatory filings revealed it had inflated the funds raised from investors.

中國金融比價網站簡普科技(Jianpu Technology)準備于今年晚些時候上市。在監(jiān)管申報文件披露其夸大了從投資者手中融得的資金的金額后，該公司被剝奪了“獨角獸”企業(yè)(估值超10億美元的高科技企業(yè))的地位。

Jianpu’s filing is the latest to raise questions over the veracity of fundraising claims by Chinese private companies, a flurry of which are now heading to market.

一些中國私人公司的申報文件讓人們對它們融資說法的真實性產生了懷疑，簡普科技的申報文件是最新的例子。目前，有一連串中國私人公司正準備上市。

Peer-to-peer lender Ppdai’s fundraisings detailed in its filing also fall short of earlier disclosures, according to calculations by Crunchbase, which collates its data from a variety of mostly publicly available channels, including US Securities and Exchange Commission documents.

Crunchbase的計算顯示，P2P貸款機構拍拍貸(ppdai)在其申報文件中詳述的融資額也低于其先前披露的金額。Crunchbase核對整理的數(shù)據(jù)來自多個渠道，其中大多為可公開訪問的渠道，包括美國證交會(SEC)的文件。

The disparity in numbers, first reported in China Money Network, stands to undermine confidence in China’s unicorns — tech companies valued at more than $1bn — and prompt greater scrutiny of filings, most of which are lodged with the SEC.

這些數(shù)字上的出入最早是由中國金融投資網(China Money Network)報道出來的。它很可能會削弱外界對中國“獨角獸”企業(yè)的信心，并使這些企業(yè)的申報文件(多寄存在美國證交會)受到更嚴格審視。

Investors have already balked at Qudian, the online lender backed by Alibaba’s payments affiliate Ant Financial. They sent its shares down some 20 per cent last week, an expression of suspicions Qudian had inaccurately described its business operations before its blockbuster $900m IPO on the New York Stock Exchange the week before.

之前，投資者已對線上貸款機構趣店(Qudian)表現(xiàn)出了躊躇不前的情緒。趣店得到了阿里巴巴(Alibaba)做支付業(yè)務的關聯(lián)企業(yè)螞蟻金服(Ant Financial)的投資。上周，投資者推動趣店的股價下跌了約20%，說明他們懷疑趣店在上市前對自己的業(yè)務經營描述得并不準確。不久前，趣店在紐約證交所(NYSE)重磅上市，融資9億美元。

Qudian’s initial public offering prospectus put its bad-loan ratio at 0.5 per cent — an unusually low but not impossible figure, especially if was selling off bad debt to third parties, which is a common practice among online lenders.

趣店的首次公開發(fā)行(IPO)招股書稱，其壞賬率為0.5%——這是一個低得非同尋常、但也并非不可能的數(shù)字，尤其是如果它把壞賬拋售給第三方的話(對線上貸款機構而言，把壞賬拋售給第三方是一種常見做法)。

However, the actual bad-loan rate may be higher, given Chinese local media reports citing an interview with Qudian chief executive Luo Min that suggested the company had written off delinquent loans as charity payments to borrowers.

然而，趣店的真實壞賬率也許要高一些，因為中國國內媒體援引趣店首席執(zhí)行官羅敏在接受一次采訪時說的話稱，該公司把逾期貸款一筆勾銷，就當是送給借款人的福利。

“For our bad debts, we will not do anything to collect the debt. If you do not return the money, then never mind,” said Mr Luo. “We will gift it to you as charity.”

“我們的壞賬，一律不會催促他們來還錢，”羅敏說，“你不還錢，就算了，當作福利送你了。”

Qudian also states in its prospectus that about “90.8 per cent of active borrowers are between 18 and 35 years of age”, a description that local media criticised as a group most likely to include students. China banned online student loans in June after a spree of financial scams, including porn-for-payment schemes, targeted university students.

趣店還在其招股書中稱“活躍用戶有90.8%在18歲到35歲之間”，中國國內媒體針對這一表述提出了批評，稱該群體很可能包含學生。在一連串金融詐騙——包括“裸條借貸”——瞄準大學生之后，中國于今年6月叫停了線上校園貸。

Qudian’s prospectus did not advertise a clear pre-IPO fundraising figure. However, Crunchbase says the company raised about $873m from a number of investors before it went public.

趣店的招股書未公布明確的IPO前融資數(shù)字。但Crunchbase表示，趣店在上市前從多家投資者手中融入了約8.73億美元。

Chinese unicorns are fast catching up with their US peers in terms of value. According to CBInsights, which ranks and tracks the unicorn universe, three of the four biggest unicorns are Chinese. Altogether, Chinese unicorns comprise 41 per cent of the total global pie by value, not far below the 46 per cent for the US, according to Boston Consulting Group.

在估值方面，中國“獨角獸”們正在飛快趕超美國同行。對“獨角獸”企業(yè)進行排名和追蹤的CBInsights表示，4家最大的“獨角獸”中，有3家來自中國。波士頓咨詢集團(Boston Consulting Group)表示，按估值衡量，中國“獨角獸”合計占全球“獨角獸”的41%，與美國46%的份額差距不大。

Ppdai, the online peer-to-peer lending platform, raised a total of $70.2m in five funding rounds, according to the Crunchbase database. But in its IPO filing it says it has raised $61.7m.

Crunchbase數(shù)據(jù)庫顯示，線上P2P貸款平臺拍拍貸在5輪融資中總共融到7020萬美元。但是，拍拍貸在其IPO申報文件中稱，它融到了6170萬美元。

Jianpu, which operates the Rong360 platform, claimed to have raised four rounds of funding worth a total $258m, according to Crunchbase. That compares with $186m detailed in its IPO filing. CBInsights last week dropped Rong360 from its unicorns list.

Crunchbase數(shù)據(jù)顯示，作為融360 (Rong360)平臺的運營方，簡普科技聲稱自己進行了4輪融資，融資總額為2.58億美元。這與其在IPO申報文件中逐項列出的1.86億美元融資額差距明顯。上周，CBInsights將融360剔除出其“獨角獸”名單。

Ppdai and Rong360 declined to comment. Qudian did not respond several requests for comment.

拍拍貸和融360都拒絕置評。趣店未回應記者發(fā)出的數(shù)次置評請求。

Additional reporting by Don Weinland 唐•溫蘭(Don Weinland)補充報道