Youku.com (YOKU)

[eastunder]

Youku Reviews Possible Acquisitions as Online Video Owner Plans Shre Sale
By Mark Lee - May 5, 2011 11:05 PM MT

Youku.com Inc. (YOKU), owner of China’s biggest online-video site, said it will review possible acquisitions as the company plans to sell new stock to fund expansion.

“As we see the increasing flow of capital from the public and private market into the online video sector, we want to ensure we have a clear leadership on all fronts,” Chief Executive Officer Victor Koo said in a conference call today. Potential acquisitions would come amid expected industry consolidation, Koo said. “We will look at those opportunities as they come on a very prudent basis.”

Youku will offer new stock to boost its capital about six months after raising $233.3 million from its initial public offering in New York. The Beijing-based company is increasing advertising sales as more than 200 million Chinese Internet users view videos on its website. Its shares have more than quadrupled in U.S. trading since their debut in December.

“You are going to see an increase in both the number of advertisers and the average revenue per advertiser,” Koo said.

As much as $600 million of Youku stock may be offered in the proposed sale, according to a registration document the company filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the close of trading yesterday. Koo declined to specify how much the company will raise from the stock sale.

Youku’s American depositary receipts rose 3.8 percent to $57.60 in New York trading yesterday before the stock offer filing. That compares with the stock’s IPO price of $12.80.

Youku yesterday reported its first-quarter net loss shrank to 46.9 million yuan ($7.2 million) from 51.2 million yuan a year earlier. Revenue more than doubled to 128 million yuan from 48.6 million yuan.

Second-quarter revenue will increase between 125 percent to 135 percent compared with last year, Youku said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will manage Youku’s proposed stock offering.