Tencent hires banks to aid with IPO plans

Tencent is moving forward with plans for an initial public offering of its music branch. Tencent Music and Entertainment has appointment Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to lead the IPO, Financial Times reported. The three banks either did not respond or declined to comment on the Times’ story.

The business is expected to list in New York and its valuation has been pegged at about $30 billion. Both TME and Tencent entered a deal with Spotify earlier this year to exchange minority stakes. Financial Times did not share any projected timeline for when Tencent might hope to list, but it seems likely that it could be a faster process than Spotify’s long-awaited direct listing if the company opts for a more traditional IPO.