Mfarhanonline Social Media News: Renren , China’s leading and most-trafficked real-name social network, could raise up to $734.4 million when it lists its shares on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. Renren is offering shares at $12 to $14, a 30% increase over its suggested offering of $9 to $11 per share just one week ago. At the $13 mid-point price and private placement to investors, the company could have a market value of $5.1 billion after its offering, Business Week reports . That’s a fraction of Facebook’s latest valuation , but hardly a shabby performance by IPO standards. Founded in 2005, the Beijing-based social network has a reported 117 million users — compare that to Facebook’s more than 600 million members — though only 31 million are said to use the service at least once per month. In a post on China’s top social networks , Mfarhanonline contributor Kai Lukoff said Renren is essentially a Facebook copycat. “Renren is like a miniature Facebook with a mean streak and a quest for monetization … Anything Facebook releases, Renren immediately copies: Connect, Like, Places, Groups, etc. To be fair, a few features are localized: brand advertising, a game layer and emoticons,” Lukoff wrote. Renren, unlike Facebook , charges brands a minimum of 600,000 yuan (roughly $90,000) to create their own fan pages, which are more like mini-sites. The company, however, is not yet profitable. “The appetite for Renren shares is there because this is the first major social networking site from anywhere to list,” Mark Natkin, founder of Marbridge Consulting, told the BBC. Even though investors are expected to buy up Renren shares, the company is far from a safe bet. Renren’s audit committee chair Derek Palaschuk formally resigned his post over the weekend “to protect the Chinese so! cial net working company from any possible fallout from accusations of accounting fraud at another company where he is an executive,” Reuters reports. Plus, Renren will face additional scrutiny from the SEC, which is investigating the accounting practices of hundreds of Chinese companies on the exchange, according to BBC News . More About: facebook , ipo , renren , social network For more Business & Marketing coverage: Follow Mfarhanonline Business & Marketing on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business & Marketing channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad Social Media reviews series maintain by Mayya
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