Klook mandates for US$500m US IPO
SoftBank-backed travel and leisure booking platform Klook Travel has mandated lead banks for its US listing, a banker familiar with the situation told IFR.
The Hong Kong-based company has tapped Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to lead the offering of about US$400m–$500m, slated for as soon as later this year. It is set to interview other banks to fill out the rest of the syndicate, the banker said.
Representatives of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan declined to comment. Klook has not replied to emails seeking comment.
The consumer tech company allows users to buy discounted tickets to theme parks and museums globally, as well as to make hotel, flight and rental car bookings. That puts it in competition with the likes of Booking Holdings and Expedia.
The choice of banks ties together historic relationships.
Klook co-founder Eric Gnock Fah is a former Morgan Stanley investment banker who covered consumer retail and healthcare. Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, the venture capital arm of Goldman Sachs, has been an investor in Klook since 2017. And JP Morgan is among three banks that have extended borrowings to Klook dating back to 2023.
Klook is the latest tech company seeking to leverage the flourishing US IPO market to raise capital. Newly listed companies have outperformed the broader market so far this year, with the 16% gain in the Renaissance Capital IPO Index in the year to date outperforming the 10.8% rise in the broader market.
Founded in 2014, the company raised US$425m on its Series D private round in 2019 that was led by SoftBank and included Sequoia China. It has raised capital several times since, including a US$100m Series F round that was led by Vitruvian Partners in February 2025.