(Yicai Global) June 23 -- SoftBank-backed Full Truck Alliance, the world’s largest digital freight platform by gross transaction value, closed 13 percent higher in one of the biggest US initial public offerings among Chinese firms this year.

Full Truck Alliance's stock price [NYSE: YMM] ended at USD21.50 yesterday, with a market capitalization of nearly USD23.4 billion. The equity price was 3.7 percent down in after-hours trading. The IPO price was USD19, the maximum of its price range.

The firm, dubbed "China’s Uber for trucks," raised USD1.6 billion from its IPO. The company was planning to offer 82.5 million American Depository Shares, according to its prospectus filed on June 15.

The company, which has offices in Guiyang and Nanjing, expects to use the proceeds from its listing to develop infrastructure, technology, and services, as well as for general purposes such as potential acquisitions.

Innovative But Pricey Business Model

Full Truck Alliance has solved the sector's pain points of information asymmetry, high vacancy rates, and low utilization rates, by creating a more transparent and efficient logistics platform, Lightspeed China Partners' founding partner Herry Han said to Yicai Global yesterday.

"We have transformed China’s road transportation industry by pioneering a digital, standardized, and smart logistics infrastructure across the value chain," the firm said in its prospectus.

The company is not yet profitable. The platform widened its net loss by more than two times to CNY3.5 billion (USD531.9 million) last year from a year ago. Its revenue climbed 4 percent to CNY2.6 billion. The number of fulfilled orders was 71.1 million and the gross transaction value was CNY173.8 billion (USD26.8 billion).

Shareholders

The cargo delivery firm is backed by some renowned investors. The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and United Arab Emirates-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment agreed to subscribe to USD100 million worth of Class A shares before the IPO, according to the prospectus.

Existing shareholder Fidelity International was also interested in buying as much as USD100 million worth of ADSs. Before the IPO, SoftBank had a 20.3 percent stake in Full Truck Alliance and Sequoia held 6.6 percent of the equity.

Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Zhang had 15.2 percent of the shares before the IPO, but 83.4 percent of the voting power.

Full Truck Alliance had served 1.3 million clients with 2.8 million drivers on the platform, operating 100,000 routes between 300 cities as of last December.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi