MAOYAN Weying, China’s top movie ticketing platform, has filed for a Hong Kong listing in which it aims to raise between US$500 million and US$1 billion.

The firm, which filed its prospectus under the name of Entertainment Plus on Monday, offers ticketing services through its Maoyan and Gewara apps, the world’s second-largest movie market after the United States.

A company spokesman declined to comment on details of the IPO, including the size of the share sale.

Maoyan Weying was valued at 20 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion) in November last year when it raised 1 billion yuan from Shenzhen-based Internet giant Tencent Holdings, domestic media reported at the time.

It has a 60.9 percent share of the online movie ticketing market, according to the draft prospectus posted on the Hong Kong exchange website.

The firm also distributes Chinese-made films and sometimes assists in marketing foreign films in China.

China’s box office revenue rose 13.5 percent in 2017 to 55.9 billion yuan (US$8.2 billion), according to Xinhua, more than tripling its 2016 growth rate as foreign films won a larger share of ticket sales. (SD-Agencies)