Sequoia-Backed Cloud Tech Firm Weighs $500 Million IPO

Clip on cable markers sit around network cables inside a communications room at an office in London, U.K., on Monday, May 21, 2018. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport will work with the Home Office to publish a white paper later this year setting out legislation, according to a statement, which will also seek to force tech giants to reveal how they target abusive and illegal online material posted by users. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese cloud communications company Beijing Ronglian Yitong Information Technology Co., also known as Yuntongxun, is weighing an initial public offering that could raise as much as $500 million, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Beijing-based firm is working with Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on the share sale and aims to list as soon as the first half of this year, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The startup, which counts Sequoia Capital China among its early investors, is considering potential venues for the IPO including the U.S. and Hong Kong, but no final decision has been made, the people said.

Deliberations for the IPO are ongoing, and details such as timing and size may change, the people said. Representatives for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs declined to comment, while a representative for Yuntongxun didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Yuntongxun is a cloud-based communication platform and service provider, with clients including Bank of China Ltd., China Merchants Securities Co. and Ping An Insurance Group Co., according to its website. The company has more than 1,000 employees in locations across China as well as in Tokyo.

It announced in November that it raised $125 million in a series F funding round, led by China’s state-owned Capital Venture Investment Fund, as well as New Oriental Industrial Fund, Mirae Asset, Parantoux Capital and CloudAlpha, according to the website.