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Intsig Files For Hong Kong IPO To Court Global Investors

The operator of an app allowing users to directly convert images to PDF files from their smartphones hopes to sell investors on its growing profits and strong margins

Key Takeaways:

Intsig has filed to list in Hong Kong, boasting nearly 30% annual profit growth over the last three years and gross profit margins of around 80%

CamScanner, an app allowing users to create PDF files directly from images on their phones, contributes about three-quarters of the company's revenue

Many people around the world may have used CamScanner, an application that converts documents into PDF files using photos on a smartphone. But far fewer may know the app is operated by China's Intsig Information Co. Ltd. (688615.SH), whose founder and Chairman Zhen Lixin has worked in some top firms, including oil major Sinopec, where he was an electrical engineer, and Motorola, which he joined in 2000 before setting up Intsig in 2006.

Zhen's company went through various products before hitting its stride in 2010 with CamScanner, which has grown since then to contribute over 70% of its revenue. Intsig listed on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style STAR Market last year, where it's currently valued at a hefty figure of more than 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion). Now, the company is trying to cash in on the recent frenzy by firms listed on China's domestic-focused markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen to make a second listing in Hong Kong targeting global investors.

CamScanner bills itself as the world's largest image-to-text processing product maker by user base, according to its listing documentfiled late last month. The app has ranked at the top of the free efficiency apps list in the Apple app store "at various times" since 2013, it said, citing third-party research. With over 1 billion users across 200 countries and support in 52 languages, it says it is one of the few global apps to consistently grow at an ...