Lukewarm trading debut on the New York Exchange for Mogu Inc.

New York - Chinese fashion and cosmetic retailer Mog Inc. debuted its trading in the U.S. stock exchange on December 6. The company’s stock’s price closed its first trading day unchanged from its 14 dollars apiece IPO’s price.

Mogu Inc.’s American depositary shares opened at 12 dollars in New York last Thursday, well below the 14 dollars IPO price, reported Bloomberg. The shares closed at 14 dollars, giving the company a market value of about 1.3 billion dollars. That’s slightly over a third of the valuation the company was given when it was created in 2016 through the merger of Meilishuo and Mogujie.

U.S.-China trade tensions didn’t have a bearing on the IPO according to Mogu Inc.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and Chinese governments haven’t had an impact on Mogu’s debut because it’s focused on its domestic market, Helen Wu, the company’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. However, she recognized that it was “hard to time” the entry into capital markets. The listing is part of a long-term strategic plan, she added.

“Getting listed on the New York Stock Exchange will help build our brand, and in the fashion industry, brand is very important,” Wu said. “The tech market is hard to predict.”

Mogu targets China’s millennial and younger shoppers such as Gen Zs. In its last financial update, the retailer said it lost 44 million dollars on revenue of 71 million dollars for the six months ended September 30.

Mogu sold 4.75 million shares in IPO and raised 67 million dollars

It’s worth recalling that the initial public offering of shares came in at the lowest end of the proposed range (14 dollars to 16 dollars marketed range.) Mogu sold 4.75 million shares on Tuesday to raise 67 million dollars.

Mogu was targeting a market value of 4 billion dollars earlier this year before a sell-off hit demand for tech stocks and forced it to cut that goal in half, added Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and China Renaissance Holdings Ltd. led Mogu’s offering. The shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MOGU.

Photo: Mogu, official e-commerce website