Razer aiming for IPO of $5bn in October

PC peripherals manufacturer Razer is aiming for an initial public offering in Hong Kong valued up to $5bn, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

At the moment, Razer is said to be aiming for a public debut in October, and it’s currently looking to value the company somewhere between $3bn and $5bn. People ‘familiar with the matter’ also said its share sale would help kickstart development on the company’s first mobile phone, which would be designed with gamers in mind.

Should Razer hit its $5bn target, it would become one of the biggest tech debuts in the Asian financial sector in several years.

However, a report obtained earlier this month by Techcrunch suggests Razer could fall well short of its intended $5bn. In this report, a "source close to the company" said it would likely be valued at just $600m. Then again, Razer’s latest round of venture capital investment valued the company at $2bn.

While almost half of Razer’s revenue comes from North America, Asia remains one of its key markets, generating roughly the same amount of revenue as Europe. Bloomberg also reports that the company plans "to use Hong Kong as a beachhead" in order to expand into China’s rapidly growing gaming market, which is currently valued at $25bn.

The company started out as a PC peripherals manufacturer, making mice and keyboards for gaming enthusiasts, but has since branched out into laptops, PCs, console accessories, apparel and gaming projectors. It also recently acquired the cloud-orientated Robin smartphone maker Nextbit, and the Android-based micro console Ouya.