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Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF TENCENT HOLDINGS LIMITED (incorporated in Cayman Islands with limited liability)
Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4)
Registration No. 333-193650
PROSPECTUS
93,685,620 American Depositary Shares
JD.com, Inc.
Representing 187,371,240 Class A Ordinary Shares
This is an initial public offering of American depositary shares, or ADSs, of JD.com, Inc. We are selling 69,007,360 ADSs. The selling shareholders identified in this prospectus are selling an additional 24,678,260 ADSs. Each ADS represents two of our Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.00002 per share. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of ADSs by the selling shareholders.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the ADSs or the Class A ordinary shares. We have received approval for listing the ADSs on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, or NASDAQ, under the symbol "JD."
Investing in the ADSs involves risks that are described in the "Risk Factors" section beginning on page 19 of this prospectus.
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Per ADS
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Total
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Initial public offering price |
US$19.00 | US$1,780,026,780 | |||
Underwriting discount |
US$0.76 | US$71,201,072 | |||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us |
US$18.24 | US$1,258,694,246 | |||
Proceeds, before expenses, to the selling shareholders |
US$18.24 | US$450,131,462 |
The underwriters may also exercise their option to purchase up to an additional 14,052,840 ADSs from us at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discount, for 30 days after the date of this prospectus.
Neither the United States Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Following the completion of this offering, our outstanding share capital will consist of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Richard Qiangdong Liu, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, will be deemed to beneficially own all of our issued Class B ordinary shares and will be able to exercise approximately 83.7% of the total voting power of our issued and outstanding share capital, both on behalf of himself and on behalf of Fortune Rising Holdings Limited, immediately following the completion of this offering. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares have the same rights except for voting and conversion rights. Each Class A ordinary share is entitled to one vote, and each Class B ordinary share is entitled to twenty votes and is convertible into one Class A ordinary share. Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances.
The underwriters expect to deliver the ADSs against payment in U.S. dollars in New York, New York on or about May 28, 2014.
BofA Merrill Lynch | UBS Investment Bank |
Allen & Company LLC | Barclays | China Renaissance | Jefferies |
Oppenheimer & Co. | Piper Jaffray | SunTrust Robinson Humphrey | Cowen and Company |
The date of this prospectus is May 21, 2014.
No dealer, salesperson or other person is authorized to give any information or to represent anything not contained in this prospectus or any free writing prospectus filed with the SEC. You must not rely on any unauthorized information or representations. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the ADSs offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus is current only as of its date.
Neither we nor any of the underwriters has done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus or any filed free writing prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus or any filed free writing prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the ADSs and the distribution of this prospectus or any filed free writing prospectus outside of the United States.
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The following summary is qualified in its entirety by, and should be read in conjunction with, the more detailed information and financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. In addition to this summary, we urge you to read the entire prospectus carefully, especially the risks of investing in our ADSs discussed under "Risk Factors," before deciding whether to buy our ADSs.
Our Business
We are the largest online direct sales company in China in terms of transaction volume in 2013, with a market share in China of 46.5%, according to iResearch, a third-party market research firm. Our gross merchandise volume, or GMV, increased from RMB32.7 billion in 2011 to RMB73.3 billion in 2012 and RMB125.5 billion (US$20.7 billion) in 2013.
We believe we provide consumers an enjoyable online retail experience. Through our content-rich and user-friendly website www.jd.com and mobile applications, we offer a wide selection of authentic products at competitive prices which are delivered in a speedy and reliable manner. We also offer convenient online and in-person payment options and comprehensive customer services. In order to have better control over fulfillment and to ensure customer satisfaction, we have built our own nationwide fulfillment infrastructure and last-mile delivery network, staffed by our own employees, which supports both our online direct sales and our online marketplace businesses. We have established strong relationships with our suppliers as we develop our online direct sales business. Leveraging our strengths, we launched our online marketplace business in 2010, which has allowed us to significantly expand our selection of products and services.
As a result of our superior customer experience, our business has grown rapidly. The number of products we offer through our online direct sales and marketplace has grown from approximately 1.5 million stock keeping units, or SKUs, as of December 31, 2011 to approximately 7.2 million SKUs as of December 31, 2012 to approximately 25.7 million as of December 31, 2013 and further to approximately 40.2 million as of March 31, 2014. Electronics products and home appliances accounted for 80.1%, 65.3% and 63.6% of our total GMV in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively, and general merchandise and others for 19.9%, 34.7% and 36.4%.
We foster an interactive user community that discusses, rates and reviews our products and services. We believe we have the largest online product review database of any online direct sales company in China with approximately 297 million product reviews generated by our customers to date. We had 12.5 million, 29.3 million and 47.4 million active customer accounts and fulfilled approximately 65.9 million, 193.8 million and 323.3 million orders in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.
Timely and reliable fulfillment is critical to the success of an online retail business. Given the underdevelopment of third-party fulfillment services in China in terms of both warehousing and logistics facilities and last-mile delivery services, we made a strategic decision in 2007 to build and operate our own nationwide fulfillment infrastructure. We believe we have the largest fulfillment infrastructure of any e-commerce company in China. We operated 86 warehouses with an aggregate gross floor area of approximately 1.5 million square meters in 36 cities and 1,620 delivery stations and 214 pickup stations in 495 cities across China as of March 31, 2014, and had 24,412 delivery personnel, 11,145 warehouse staff and 5,832 customer service personnel as of April 1, 2014. Leveraging this nationwide fulfillment infrastructure, we deliver a majority of the orders directly to customers ourselves, over 70% of which were delivered on the day the order was placed or the day after. As of March 31, 2014, we provided same-day delivery in 43 cities under our 211 program and next-day delivery in another 256 cities across China.
We are a technology-driven company and have invested heavily in developing our own highly scalable proprietary technology platform that supports our rapid growth and enables us to provide
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value-added technology services. Our technology platform currently has the capacity to process up to 30 million orders per day and record the status of 1.5 billion SKUs. In addition, our sophisticated business intelligence system enables us to refine our merchandise sourcing strategy to manage our inventory turnover and control costs and to leverage our large customer database to create customized product recommendations and cost-effective and targeted advertising.
We introduced our online marketplace to leverage our brand recognition, large and growing customer base, extensive transaction data, fulfillment infrastructure and proprietary technology platform. Our online marketplace allows us to provide customers a much greater selection of products. As of March 31, 2014, our online marketplace accounted for approximately 37.8 million of the approximately 40.2 million SKUs offered on our website. Our online direct sales and marketplace businesses together made us the second largest B2C e-commerce company in China, with a 23.3% market share based on transaction volume in the first quarter of 2014, according to iResearch. We attract and select third-party sellers to offer authentic products to our customers through our online marketplace. We monitor third-party sellers' performance and activities on our online marketplace closely to ensure that they meet our requirements for authentic products and high-quality customer service. In addition to basic transaction processing and billing services, we offer third-party sellers a suite of value-added fulfillment and other services.
Our business has grown substantially in recent years. Our total net revenues increased from RMB21.1 billion in 2011 to RMB41.4 billion in 2012 and RMB69.3 billion (US$11.5 billion) in 2013. We had net losses of RMB1.3 billion, RMB1.7 billion and RMB0.05 billion (US$8 million) in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.
JD.com, Inc. is a holding company and does not directly own all of the entities through which we carry out our business operations. The PRC government regulates foreign ownership and imposes licensing and permit requirements for companies that offer value-added telecommunications services, distribute books and audio and video products and provide online payment services. To comply with these restrictions, we operate our website and mobile applications, sell books and audio and video products and provide online payment services through our variable interest entities in China. Our variable interest entities contributed 2.2%, 3.2% and 2.9% of our consolidated total revenues in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. These variable interest entities hold the permits and licenses necessary for us to conduct our business in China. We face risks and uncertainties associated with our corporate structure, as our control over these variable interest entities is based on contractual arrangements rather than equity ownership. See "Risk FactorsRisks Relating to Our Corporate Structure" and "Corporate History and Structure."
Our Industry
China's retail industry has experienced substantial growth as a result of rising disposable income and increasing urbanization. Total retail sales grew from RMB6.2 trillion in 2008 to RMB9.8 trillion (US$1.6 trillion) in 2012, according to Euromonitor International, representing a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 12.2%. However, China's large size and population and differences in consumer behavior and purchasing power across the country have presented significant challenges for retailers to scale up and expand nationwide. As a result, China's retail industry is highly fragmented, with the top 20 retailers in aggregate only accounting for approximately 12% of the total market share in 2013, as compared with approximately 40% in the United States, according to Euromonitor International. The fragmented offline retail market in China presents an opportunity for online retailers.
According to iResearch, China's online retail market size measured by transaction volume was RMB1.3 trillion in 2012 and is expected to reach RMB3.8 trillion (US$626 billion) in 2016, representing a CAGR of 30.2%, a growth rate significantly faster than that of total retail sales. See "Industry."
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Online direct sales and online marketplace are the two major online retail business models in China. Under the online direct sales business model, a company procures and manages its own inventories, sells products directly to consumers online, and provides delivery and after-sales services. Under the online marketplace business model, a company operates an intermediary platform that facilitates transactions between merchants and consumers. Some online marketplaces are operated by companies that also have their own online direct sales business. China's online retail market was originally dominated by online marketplaces, but companies operating under the online direct sales model with carefully managed procurement and fulfillment services as well as wide product selection have also been successful in the past several years, particularly as customers increasingly value product authenticity and better service.
With the shortage of quality storage space and the limited availability of reasonably priced last-mile delivery options, fulfillment remains a challenge for online retail companies attempting to reach more consumers on a nationwide scale while maintaining the quality and efficiency of customer service.
Competitive Strengths
We believe that the following competitive strengths contribute to our success and differentiate us from our competitors:
Our Strategies
Our goal is to become the largest e-commerce company in the world. We plan to achieve this goal by implementing strategies to optimize customer experience, deepen our market penetration and enhance our brand recognition while continuing to improve our margins and operating leverage. These strategies include:
Our Challenges
Our ability to achieve our goal and execute our strategies is subject to risks and uncertainties, including those relating to our ability to:
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In addition, we face risks and uncertainties related to our corporate structure and doing business in China, including:
Please see "Risk Factors" and other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that we face.
Transactions with Tencent
On March 10, 2014, we acquired certain e-commerce businesses and assets from, and entered into a strategic cooperation agreement and formed a strategic partnership with, Tencent Holdings Limited, or Tencent, a leading internet company serving the largest online community in China. Tencent offers a wide variety of internet services in China including instant messaging, social networking, online games and online media. As part of the strategic partnership, Tencent will offer us prominent level 1 access points in its mobile applications Weixin and Mobile QQ and provide internet traffic and other support from other key platforms to us. Level 1 access points refer to entries and links that Tencent users can directly access on the interfaces that will launch after one click on the home interface on Tencent's mobile applications. We expect our prominent level 1 access points on Weixin and Mobile QQ will help us generate mobile user traffic from Tencent's large mobile user base and enhance our customers' mobile shopping experience. The two parties agreed to cooperate in a number of areas including mobile-related products, social networking services, membership systems and payment solutions. The strategic cooperation agreement has a term of five years and applies within the territory of the Greater China, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Under the strategic cooperation agreement, we will become Tencent's preferred partner for all physical goods e-commerce businesses, and Tencent agrees not to engage in any direct sales or managed marketplace business model in physical goods e-commerce businesses in Greater China and a few selected international markets for a period of eight years, whether through a direct sales or managed marketplace business model, other than through its controlled affiliate Shanghai Icson E-Commerce Development Company Limited, or Shanghai Icson. We expect to leverage this strategic partnership to enhance our customers' online shopping experience, reach Tencent's large mobile and internet user base and further expand our presence on mobile commerce.
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On the same date, we entered into a series of agreements with Tencent and its affiliates pursuant to which we have acquired 100% interests in Tencent's Paipai and QQ Wanggou online marketplace businesses, a 9.9% stake in Shanghai Icson, logistics personnel and certain other assets. Concurrent with the above transactions, the execution of the strategic cooperation agreement and for US$214.7 million in cash to us, we issued a total of 351,678,637 ordinary shares to Huang River Investment Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent, representing 15% of our total issued and outstanding shares as of the closing of the transaction, calculated on a fully diluted basis under the treasury method. We have agreed to pay Tencent RMB631 million (US$104 million) in cash during 2014 as part of the consideration for the transaction. Huang River Investment Limited has also agreed to purchase a number of Class A ordinary shares from us in a concurrent private placement at the per share equivalent of the price to the public in this offering that represents 5% of our total issued and outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis immediately following the completion of this offering (including an option to further subscribe if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised). Huang River Investment Limited has agreed not to sell or transfer any of our shares it holds now or will acquire in the concurrent private placement during the three-year period commencing from March 10, 2014, subject to limited exceptions.
Paipai and QQ Wanggou, which we acquired from Tencent, are online marketplaces in China that bring buyers and sellers together online. Paipai is a consumer-to-consumer or C2C marketplace whereas QQ Wanggou is a business-to-consumer or B2C marketplace. Paipai and QQ Wanggou offer customers a wide selection of physical goods including apparel, baby products, food and beverages, home furnishings and consumer electronics. We expect our acquisition of Paipai and QQ Wanggou will help us further expand our product and service offerings. In addition, we have the right to acquire the remaining equity of Shanghai Icson by March 10, 2017 at the higher of the then fair value of Shanghai Icson or RMB800 million (US$132 million). Shanghai Icson operates a B2C e-commerce platform in China.
We expect to leverage our strategic partnership with Tencent to enhance our ability to increase internet and mobile user traffic to our website, to strengthen our direct sales and marketplace businesses on internet and mobile. Tencent has a large mobile internet user base, as evidenced by 396 million monthly active user accounts on Tencent's mobile applications Weixin and Wechat in the first quarter of 2014 based on publicly available data. We expect our level 1 access points on Tencent's mobile applications will raise our profile among China's fast growing and large mobile internet users, many of whom frequently use Weixin in their daily lives. We will also tap Tencent's significant user traffic, such as the approximately 14.6 million average daily unique visitors of its e-commerce websites in December 2013. We will further strengthen our team with the addition of former employees from Tencent. As of April 1, 2014, 5,000 former employees from Tencent, including approximately 2,000 delivery staff, had joined us. Finally, the acquisition of Paipai and QQ Wanggou establishes our presence in the C2C marketplace while increasing our market share in our core B2C business.
Corporate History and Structure
Our founder, Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, launched an online retail website in January 2004. He subsequently formed a company in Beijing and another company in Shanghai and conducted his online retail business through these two companies. In November 2006, we incorporated Star Wave Investments Holdings Limited under the laws of the British Virgin Islands as our offshore holding company in order to facilitate international financing. We later changed the name of this entity to 360buy Jingdong Inc. In January 2014, 360buy Jingdong Inc. was redomiciled in the Cayman Islands as an exempted company registered under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and was renamed JD.com, Inc.
JD.com, Inc. is a Cayman Islands holding company and we conduct our business in China through our subsidiaries and variable interest entities. We may rely on dividends from our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China for our cash requirements. Under PRC laws and regulations, our
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wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China may pay dividends only out of their respective accumulated profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise is required to set aside at least 10% of its accumulated after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund certain statutory reserve fund, until the aggregate amount of such fund reaches 50% of its registered capital. See "Risk FactorsRisks Related to Our Corporate StructureWe may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business."
In April 2007, we established a wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Beijing Jingdong Century Trade Co., Ltd., or Jingdong Century, and we acquired certain intellectual property rights from the two companies our founder had established earlier, which ceased business operations and were later liquidated and dissolved. Since then, Jingdong Century has established a variety of subsidiaries in China to engage in wholesale and retail sales, courier services, research and development, and internet finance.
We assisted in establishing Beijing Jingdong 360 Degree E-Commerce Co., Ltd., or Jingdong 360, in April 2007. Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu and Mr. Jiaming Sun are the shareholders of Jingdong 360, with Mr. Liu owning 45% and Mr. Sun owning 55% as of the date of this prospectus. We obtained control over Jingdong 360 through Jingdong Century in April 2007 by entering into a series of contractual arrangements with Jingdong 360 and the shareholders of Jingdong 360 which we refer to as the Jingdong 360 Agreements. The Jingdong 360 Agreements were subsequently amended and restated in April 2011 and again in May 2012, and some of the Jingdong 360 Agreements were further amended and restated in December 2013. Jingdong 360 holds our ICP license as an internet information provider and operates our website www.jd.com. In October 2012, Jingdong 360 acquired, through its wholly owned subsidiary, an online payment service provider which currently holds our online payment license and provides online payment services.
We assisted in establishing Jiangsu Yuanzhou E-Commerce Co., Ltd., or Jiangsu Yuanzhou, in September 2010. Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu and Mr. Jiaming Sun are also the shareholders of Jiangsu Yuanzhou, with Mr. Liu owning 45% and Mr. Sun owning 55% as of the date of this prospectus. We obtained control over Jiangsu Yuanzhou through Jingdong Century by commitments between Mr. Liu, Mr. Sun, Jiangsu Yuanzhou and Jingdong Century at the time Jiangsu Yuanzhou was established. Jingdong Century entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Jiangsu Yuanzhou and its shareholders in April 2011 which we refer to as the Jiangsu Yuanzhou Agreements. The Jiangsu Yuanzhou Agreements were subsequently amended and restated in May 2012, and some of the Jiangsu Yuanzhou Agreements were further amended and restated in November 2012 and in December 2013. Jiangsu Yuanzhou primarily conducts the sale of books and audio and video products.
The Jingdong 360 Agreements and the Jiangsu Yuanzhou Agreements include the following:
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These two sets of contractual arrangements allow us to:
As a result of our ownership of Jingdong Century, we became the primary beneficiary of Jingdong 360 in April 2007 and of Jiangsu Yuanzhou in September 2010, and they became our variable interest entities under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or U.S. GAAP. We have consolidated the financial results of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou in our consolidated
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financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou collectively contributed 2.2%, 3.2% and 2.9% of our consolidated total net revenues in the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.
We rely on contractual arrangements to control and operate the businesses and assets held by Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou and their subsidiaries. The contractual arrangements may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership. If Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou or the shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we could be limited in our ability to enforce the contractual arrangements that give us effective control over Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou. Furthermore, if we are unable to maintain effective control over Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou, we would not be able to continue to consolidate the financial results of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou and their subsidiaries with ours. See "Risk FactorsRisks Related to Our Corporate StructureWe rely on contractual arrangements with our variable interest entities and their shareholders for a portion of our business operations, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control." and "Any failure by our variable interest entities or their shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material and adverse effect on our business."
In April 2011, we established a wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Shanghai Shengdayuan Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Shanghai Shengdayuan. Currently, Shanghai Shengdayuan primarily operates our online marketplace business.
In April 2012, we established an additional wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Tianjin Star East Corporation Limited, or Star East, which is expected to provide primarily warehousing and related services.
In August 2012, we established an additional wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Beijing Jingbangda Trade Co., Ltd., or Jingbangda, which is expected to provide primarily courier services.
In January 2014, our wholly owned subsidiary, JD.com International Limited, which was previously established in Hong Kong, became the intermediate holding company owning 100% of Jingdong Century.
In March 2014, we entered into a series of agreements with Tencent and its affiliates pursuant to which we have acquired 100% interests in Tencent's Paipai and QQ Wanggou online marketplace businesses, a 9.9% stake in Shanghai Icson, logistics personnel and certain other assets. In connection with the acquisition, four PRC entities formerly owned or controlled by Tencent became subsidiaries of our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries and our variable interest entity. We also entered into a five-year strategic cooperation agreement and a eight-year non-compete agreement with Tencent. See "Prospectus SummaryTransactions with Tencent."
Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 10th Floor, Building A, North Star Century Center, No. 8 Beichen West Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, the People's Republic of China. Our telephone number at this address is +86 10 5895-5500. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at the offices of Maples Corporate Services Limited at PO Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman, KY1-1104, Cayman Islands.
Investors should submit any inquiries to the address and telephone number of our principal executive offices. Our main website is www.jd.com. The information contained on our website is not a part of this prospectus. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Law Debenture Corporate Services Inc., located at 400 Madison Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, New York 10017.
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Conventions that Apply to this Prospectus
Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to:
Unless the context indicates otherwise, all information in this prospectus assumes no exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option.
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Offering price | The initial public offering price is US$19.00 per ADS. | |
ADSs offered by us |
69,007,360 ADSs (or 83,060,200 ADSs if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full). |
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ADSs offered by the selling shareholders |
24,678,260 ADSs. |
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Concurrent private placement |
Concurrently with, and subject to, the completion of this offering, Huang River Investment Limited, our existing shareholder and a subsidiary of Tencent, has agreed to purchase from us such number of Class A ordinary shares that represents 5% of our total issued and outstanding share capital on a fully diluted basis immediately following the completion of this offering, which will be 138,014,720 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option to purchase additional ADSs in the offering, or 139,493,960 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full and Huang River Investment Limited exercises its option to further subscribe to Class A ordinary shares to maintain the 5% proportionate size of the concurrent private placement, at a price per share equal to the initial public offering price adjusted to reflect the ADS-to-ordinary share ratio. Our proposed issuance and sale of Class A ordinary shares to Huang River Investment Limited are being made through a private placement pursuant to an exemption from registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under Regulation S of the Securities Act. Huang River Investment Limited has agreed not to, directly or indirectly, sell, transfer or dispose of any Class A ordinary shares acquired in the private placement for three years commencing from March 10, 2014, subject to certain limited exceptions. |
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ADSs outstanding immediately after this offering |
93,685,620 ADSs (or 107,738,460 ADSs if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full). |
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Ordinary shares outstanding immediately after this offering | We will adopt a dual class ordinary share structure immediately prior to the completion of this offering. 2,734,171,730 ordinary shares, comprised of 2,177,875,831 Class A ordinary shares and 556,295,899 Class B ordinary shares (or 2,763,756,650 ordinary shares if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full and Huang River Investment Limited exercises its option to further subscribe to Class A ordinary shares to maintain the 5% proportionate size of the concurrent private placement, comprised of 2,207,460,751 Class A ordinary shares and 556,295,899 Class B ordinary shares) will be issued and outstanding immediately upon the completion of this offering. Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding immediately after the completion of this offering will represent 20.3% of our total issued and outstanding shares and 83.6% of the then total voting power (or 20.1% of our total issued and outstanding shares and 83.4% of the then total voting power if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full). | |
The ADSs |
Each ADS represents two Class A ordinary shares, par value US$0.00002 per share. |
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The depositary will hold Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs. You will have rights as provided in the deposit agreement. |
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We do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. If, however, we declare dividends on our ordinary shares, the depositary will pay you the cash dividends and other distributions it receives on our Class A ordinary shares after deducting its fees and expenses in accordance with the terms set forth in the deposit agreement. |
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You may turn in your ADSs to the depositary in exchange for Class A ordinary shares. The depositary will charge you fees for any exchange. |
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We may amend or terminate the deposit agreement without your consent. If you continue to hold your ADSs after an amendment to the deposit agreement, you agree to be bound by the deposit agreement as amended. |
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To better understand the terms of the ADSs, you should carefully read the "Description of American Depositary Shares" section of this prospectus. You should also read the deposit agreement, which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement that includes this prospectus. |
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Ordinary shares | Our ordinary shares will be divided into Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the completion of this offering. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares will have the same rights except for voting and conversion rights. In respect of matters requiring a shareholder vote, each Class A ordinary share will be entitled to one vote, and each Class B ordinary share will be entitled to twenty votes. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof. Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon any transfer of Class B ordinary shares by a holder thereof to any person or entity which is not an affiliate of such holder, such Class B ordinary shares shall be automatically and immediately converted into the same number of Class A ordinary shares. For a description of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, see "Description of Share Capital." | |
Over-allotment option |
We have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable within 30 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to an aggregate of 14,052,840 additional ADSs. |
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Use of proceeds |
We expect that we will receive net proceeds of approximately US$1,248 million from this offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. In addition, we expect to receive net proceeds of approximately US$1,309 million from the concurrent private placement, after deducting the placement fee payable by us. |
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We plan to use the net proceeds of this offering and the concurrent private placement as follows: |
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approximately US$1.0 billion to US$1.2 billion over the next three years to expand our fulfillment infrastructure by acquiring land use rights, building new warehouses and purchasing vehicles for shipping and delivery; and |
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the balance for general corporate purposes, including funding potential investments and acquisitions of complementary businesses, assets and technologies. |
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See "Use of Proceeds" for more information. |
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We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of ADSs by the selling shareholders. |
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Lock-up | We, our executive officers and directors and all of our existing shareholders have agreed with the underwriters not to sell, transfer or dispose of any ADSs, ordinary shares or similar securities for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus. See "Shares Eligible for Future Sales" and "Underwriting." In addition, Huang River Investment Limited has agreed not to sell or transfer any of our shares it holds now or will acquire in the concurrent private placement during the three-year period commencing from March 10, 2014, subject to limited exceptions. | |
Reserved ADSs |
At our request, the underwriters have reserved up to 5% of the ADSs being offered by this prospectus for sale at the initial public offering price to our directors, officers, employees and other individuals associated with us and members of their families. The sales will be made by UBS Financial Services Inc., a selected dealer affiliated with UBS Securities LLC, an underwriter of this offering, through a directed share program. We do not know if these persons will choose to purchase all or any portion of these reserved ADSs, but any purchases they do make will reduce the number of ADSs available to the general public. Any reserved ADSs not so purchased will be offered by the underwriters to the general public on the same terms as the other ADSs. |
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Listing |
We have received approval for listing the ADSs on NASDAQ under the symbol "JD." Our ADSs and shares will not be listed on any other stock exchange or traded on any automated quotation system. |
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Payment and settlement |
The underwriters expect to deliver the ADSs against payment therefor through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company on May 28, 2014. |
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Depositary |
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas. |
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Summary Consolidated Financial Data and Summary Operating Data
The following summary consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013, summary consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and summary consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. You should read this Summary Consolidated Financial Data and Summary Operating Data section together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" section included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of results expected for future periods.
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(in millions, except for share, per share and per ADS data) |
||||||||||||
Summary Consolidated Statements of Operations Data: |
|||||||||||||
Net revenues: |
|||||||||||||
Online direct sales |
20,888 | 40,335 | 67,018 | 11,071 | |||||||||
Services and others |
241 | 1,046 | 2,322 | 383 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total net revenues |
21,129 | 41,381 | 69,340 | 11,454 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Operating expenses(1): |
|||||||||||||
Cost of revenues |
(19,977 | ) | (37,898 | ) | (62,496 | ) | (10,323 | ) | |||||
Fulfillment |
(1,515 | ) | (3,061 | ) | (4,109 | ) | (679 | ) | |||||
Marketing |
(479 | ) | (1,097 | ) | (1,590 | ) | (263 | ) | |||||
Technology and content |
(240 | ) | (636 | ) | (964 | ) | (159 | ) | |||||
General and administrative |
(322 | ) | (640 | ) | (760 | ) | (126 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total operating expenses |
(22,533 | ) | (43,332 | ) | (69,919 | ) | (11,550 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Loss from operations |
(1,404 | ) | (1,951 | ) | (579 | ) | (96 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Other income/(expense): |
|||||||||||||
Interest income |
56 | 176 | 344 | 57 | |||||||||
Interest expense |
| (8 | ) | (8 | ) | (1 | ) | ||||||
Others, net |
64 | 60 | 193 | 32 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Loss before tax |
(1,284 | ) | (1,723 | ) | (50 | ) | (8 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Income tax expense |
| (6 | ) | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss |
(1,284 | ) | (1,729 | ) | (50 | ) | (8 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Preferred shares redemption value accretion |
(1,660 | ) | (1,588 | ) | (2,435 | ) | (402 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss attributable to holders of permanent equity securities |
(2,944 | ) | (3,317 | ) | (2,485 | ) | (410 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss per share of permanent equity securities: |
|||||||||||||
Basic |
(2.23 | ) | (2.18 | ) | (1.47 | ) | (0.24 | ) | |||||
Diluted |
(2.23 | ) | (2.18 | ) | (1.47 | ) | (0.24 | ) | |||||
Net loss per ADS(2): |
|||||||||||||
Basic |
(4.45 | ) | (4.35 | ) | (2.93 | ) | (0.48 | ) | |||||
Diluted |
(4.45 | ) | (4.35 | ) | (2.93 | ) | (0.48 | ) | |||||
Weighted average shares outstanding:(3) |
|||||||||||||
Basic |
1,322,840,034 | 1,523,639,783 | 1,694,495,048 | 1,694,495,048 | |||||||||
Diluted |
1,322,840,034 | 1,523,639,783 | 1,694,495,048 | 1,694,495,048 | |||||||||
Non-GAAP Financial Measures:(4) |
|||||||||||||
Adjusted net income/(loss) |
(1,213 | ) | (1,502 | ) | 224 | 36 | |||||||
Free cash flow |
(709 | ) | 256 | 2,278 | 376 |
14
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | ||||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
||||||||||
|
(in millions) |
|||||||||||||
Fulfillment |
(38 | ) | (78 | ) | (81 | ) | (13 | ) | ||||||
Marketing |
(6 | ) | (9 | ) | (9 | ) | (1 | ) | ||||||
Technology and content |
(1 | ) | (25 | ) | (33 | ) | (5 | ) | ||||||
General and administrative |
(26 | ) | (113 | ) | (138 | ) | (23 | ) |
|
As of December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
RMB |
US$ |
RMB |
US$ |
|||||||||||||||||
|
(in millions, except for share data) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
Pro Forma(1) (Unaudited) |
Pro Forma As Adjusted (Unaudited)(2) |
|||||||||||||||||||
Summary Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
6,289 | 7,177 | 10,812 | 1,786 | 10,812 | 1,786 | 27,366 | 4,521 | |||||||||||||||||
Restricted cash |
290 | 1,920 | 1,887 | 312 | 1,887 | 312 | 1,887 | 312 | |||||||||||||||||
Short-term investments |
| 1,080 | 1,903 | 314 | 1,903 | 314 | 1,903 | 314 | |||||||||||||||||
Inventories, net |
2,764 | 4,754 | 6,386 | 1,055 | 6,386 | 1,055 | 6,386 | 1,055 | |||||||||||||||||
Total assets |
10,579 | 17,886 | 26,010 | 4,297 | 26,010 | 4,297 | 53,259 | 8,798 | |||||||||||||||||
Accounts payable |
3,636 | 8,097 | 11,019 | 1,820 | 11,019 | 1,820 | 11,028 | 1,822 | |||||||||||||||||
Total liabilities |
4,645 | 11,483 | 16,770 | 2,771 | 16,770 | 2,771 | 16,902 | 2,792 | |||||||||||||||||
Total mezzanine equity |
3,150 | 4,738 | 7,173 | 1,185 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||
Total shareholders' equity |
2,784 | 1,665 | 2,067 | 341 | 9,240 | 1,526 | 36,357 | 6,006 | |||||||||||||||||
Number of outstanding permanent equity securities |
1,439,470,960 | 1,597,137,250 | 1,715,087,336 | 1,715,087,336 | 1,973,403,641 | 1,973,403,641 | 2,694,892,688 | 2,694,892,688 |
15
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
|||||||||
|
(in millions) |
||||||||||||
Summary Consolidated Cash Flow Data: |
|||||||||||||
Net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities |
(86 | ) | 1,404 | 3,570 | 589 | ||||||||
Net cash used in investing activities |
(624 | ) | (3,369 | ) | (2,671 | ) | (441 | ) | |||||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
6,237 | 2,854 | 2,795 | 462 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents |
(108 | ) | (1 | ) | (59 | ) | (10 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents |
5,419 | 888 | 3,635 | 600 | |||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year |
870 | 6,289 | 7,177 | 1,186 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year |
6,289 | 7,177 | 10,812 | 1,786 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
The following table presents our summary operating data for the periods indicated:
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |||||||
Summary Operating Data: |
||||||||||
Active customer accounts(1) (in millions) |
12.5 | 29.3 | 47.4 | |||||||
Orders fulfilled(2) (in millions) |
65.9 | 193.8 | 323.3 | |||||||
GMV(3) (in RMB billions) |
32.7 | 73.3 | 125.5 | |||||||
Net GMV(4) (in RMB billions) |
26.9 | 60.0 | 103.9 |
16
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||||
|
RMB (in billions) |
% of GMV |
RMB (in billions) |
% of GMV |
RMB (in billions) |
% of GMV |
||||||||||||||
GMV |
32.7 | 100.0 | % | 73.3 | 100.0 | % | 125.5 | 100.0 | % | |||||||||||
Electronics and home appliance products |
26.2 | 80.1 | % | 47.8 | 65.3 | % | 79.8 | 63.6 | % | |||||||||||
General merchandise and others |
6.5 | 19.9 | % | 25.5 | 34.7 | % | 45.7 | 36.4 | % |
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In evaluating our business, we consider and use two non-GAAP measures, adjusted net income/(loss) and free cash flow, as supplemental measures to review and assess our operating performance. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We define adjusted net income/(loss) as net loss excluding share-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions. We define free cash flow as operating cash flow less capital expenditure, which includes purchases of property, equipment and software, cash paid for construction in progress, purchase of intangible assets, purchase of office building and purchase of land use rights.
We present these non-GAAP financial measures because they are used by our management to evaluate our operating performance and formulate business plans. Adjusted net income/(loss) enables our management to assess our operating results without considering the impact of share-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions, which are non-cash charges. Free cash flow enables our management to assess our liquidity and cash flow while taking into account the demands that the expansion of our fulfillment infrastructure and technology platform has placed on our financial resources. We also believe that the use of the non-GAAP measures facilitate investors' assessment of our operating performance.
These non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. One of the key limitations of using adjusted net income/(loss) is that it does not reflect all items of income and expense that affect our operations. Share-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions have been and may continue to be incurred in our business and are not reflected in the presentation of adjusted net income/(loss). One of the key limitations of free cash flow is that it does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures. Further, these non-GAAP measures may differ from the non-GAAP information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore their comparability may be limited.
We compensate for these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measure to the nearest U.S. GAAP performance measure, all of which should be considered when evaluating our performance. We encourage you to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.
17
The following table reconciles our adjusted net income/(loss) in 2011, 2012 and 2013 to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which is net income/(loss):
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
|||||||||
|
(in millions) |
||||||||||||
Reconciliation of Net Loss to Adjusted Net Income/(Loss): |
|||||||||||||
Net loss |
(1,284 | ) | (1,729 | ) | (50 | ) | (8 | ) | |||||
Share-based compensation |
71 | 225 | 261 | 42 | |||||||||
Amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions |
| 2 | 13 | 2 | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Adjusted net income/(loss) (Non-GAAP) |
(1,213 | ) | (1,502 | ) | 224 | 36 | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
The following table reconciles our free cash flow in 2011, 2012 and 2013 to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which is net cash provided by operating activities:
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
|||||||||
|
(in millions) |
||||||||||||
Reconciliation of Net Cash (Used in)/Provided by Operating Activities to Free Cash Flow: |
|||||||||||||
Net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities |
(86 | ) | 1,404 | 3,570 | 589 | ||||||||
Capital expenditures: |
|||||||||||||
Purchases of property, equipment and software |
(288 | ) | (498 | ) | (440 | ) | (73 | ) | |||||
Cash paid for construction in progress |
| (136 | ) | (737 | ) | (122 | ) | ||||||
Purchase of intangible assets |
(5 | ) | (45 | ) | (10 | ) | (1 | ) | |||||
Purchase of office building |
(161 | ) | (100 | ) | | | |||||||
Purchase of land use rights |
(169 | ) | (369 | ) | (105 | ) | (17 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total capital expenditures |
(623 | ) | (1,148 | ) | (1,292 | ) | (213 | ) | |||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Free cash flow (Non-GAAP) |
(709 | ) | 256 | 2,278 | 376 | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
18
An investment in our ADSs involves significant risks. You should consider carefully all of the information in this prospectus, including the risks and uncertainties described below, before making an investment in our ADSs. Any of the following risks could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In any such case, the market price of our ADSs could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business
If we are unable to manage our growth or execute our strategies effectively, our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
Our business has grown substantially in recent years, and we expect continued growth in our business, revenues and number of employees. We plan to further expand our fulfillment infrastructure and technology platform, increase our product offerings and hire more employees. For example, we plan to build larger, custom-designed warehouses in the seven cities where we currently have fulfillment centers, and we have already begun construction on three of them, in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenyang. We also plan to establish new delivery stations in additional locations across China. In 2014, we plan to recruit additional employees in connection with the expansion of our fulfillment infrastructure and additional research and development personnel in connection with the expansion of our technology platform, and we will continue to invest significant resources in training, managing and motivating our workforce. In addition, as we increase our product offerings, we will need to work with a large number of new suppliers and third-party sellers efficiently and establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with our existing and new suppliers and third-party sellers. Furthermore, as we expand into the online consumer-to-consumer, or C2C, business following our acquisition of Paipai's C2C marketplace from Tencent, we will be dealing with potentially many more third-party sellers that are small businesses or individuals. To support our growth, we also plan to implement a variety of new and upgraded managerial, operating, financial and human resource systems, procedures and controls. We have also launched or are in the process of launching new business initiatives in internet finance and resale of mobile telecommunication services, among others. All these efforts will require significant managerial, financial and human resources. We cannot assure you that we will be able to effectively manage our growth or to implement all these systems, procedures and control measures successfully or that our new business initiatives will be successful. If we are not able to manage our growth or execute our strategies effectively, our expansion may not be successful and our business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
We have incurred significant net losses and we may continue to experience significant losses in the future.
We have incurred significant net losses since our inception. We had net losses of RMB1,284 million, RMB1,729 million and RMB50 million (US$8 million) in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. We had accumulated deficits of RMB2,482 million, RMB4,213 million and RMB4,264 million (US$704 million) as of December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.
We cannot assure you that we will be able to generate net profits or positive cash flow from operating activities in the future. Our ability to achieve profitability will depend in large part on our ability to increase our gross margin by obtaining more favorable terms from our suppliers as our business further grows in scale, managing our product mix, expanding our online marketplace and our new C2C business and offering value-added services with higher margins. Accordingly, we intend to continue to invest heavily for the foreseeable future in our fulfillment infrastructure and technology platform to support an even larger selection of products and to offer additional value-added services. As a result of the foregoing, we believe that we may incur net losses for some time in the future.
19
If we are unable to provide superior customer experience, our business and reputation may be materially and adversely affected.
The success of our business hinges on our ability to provide superior customer experience, which in turn depends on a variety of factors. These factors include our ability to continue to offer authentic products at competitive prices, source products to respond to customer demands, maintain the quality of our products and services, and provide timely and reliable delivery, flexible payment options and superior after-sales service.
We rely primarily on our own fulfillment infrastructure, and to a lesser extent on contracted third-party couriers, to deliver our products. Interruptions or failures in our delivery services could prevent the timely or successful delivery of our products. These interruptions may be due to unforeseen events that are beyond our control or the control of our third-party couriers, such as inclement weather, natural disasters, transportation disruptions or labor unrest. If our products are not delivered on time or are delivered in a damaged state, customers may refuse to accept our products and have less confidence in our services. Furthermore, our own delivery personnel and those of contracted third-party couriers act on our behalf and interact with our customers personally. We maintain cooperation arrangements with a number of third-party couriers to deliver our products to our customers in those areas not covered by our own fulfillment infrastructure and for a portion of our bulky item deliveries, and we need to effectively manage these third-party service providers to ensure the quality of customer services. We have in the past received customer complaints from time to time regarding our delivery and return and exchange services. Any failure to provide high-quality delivery services to our customers may negatively impact the shopping experience of our customers, damage our reputation and cause us to lose customers.
Our customer service center in Suqian, Jiangsu Province provides real-time assistance to our customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It had 2,079 customer service representatives as of April 1, 2014. Our customer service center in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, which focuses on handling written questions or complaints online through instant messaging, had 1,234 customer service representatives as of the same date. We plan to increase headcount at our customer service centers substantially, and there is no assurance that we will be able to provide sufficient training to new employees to meet our standards of customer service or that an influx of less experienced personnel will not dilute the quality of our customer service. If our customer service representatives fail to provide satisfactory service, or if waiting times are too long due to the high volume of calls from customers at peak times, our brand and customer loyalty may be adversely affected. In addition, any negative publicity or poor feedback regarding our customer service may harm our brand and reputation and in turn cause us to lose customers and market share.
Any harm to our JD brand or reputation may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We believe that the recognition and reputation of our JD ( ) brand among our customers, suppliers and third-party sellers have contributed significantly to the growth and success of our business. Maintaining and enhancing the recognition and reputation of our brand are critical to our business and competitiveness. Many factors, some of which are beyond our control, are important to maintaining and enhancing our brand. These factors include our ability to:
20
A public perception that non-authentic, counterfeit or defective goods are sold on our website or that we or third-party service providers do not provide satisfactory customer service, even if factually incorrect or based on isolated incidents, could damage our reputation, diminish the value of our brand, undermine the trust and credibility we have established and have a negative impact on our ability to attract new customers or retain our current customers. If we are unable to maintain our reputation, enhance our brand recognition or increase positive awareness of our website, products and services, it may be difficult to maintain and grow our customer base, and our business and growth prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
If we are unable to offer products that attract new customers and new purchases from existing customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Our future growth depends on our ability to continue to attract new customers as well as new purchases from existing customers. Constantly changing consumer preferences have affected and will continue to affect the online retail industry. We must stay abreast of emerging consumer preferences and anticipate product trends that will appeal to existing and potential customers. Our website makes recommendations to customers based on their past purchases or on products that they viewed but did not purchase, and we also send e-mails to our customers with product recommendations tailored to their purchase profile. Our ability to make individually tailored recommendations is dependent on our business intelligence system, which tracks, collects and analyzes our users' browsing and purchasing behavior, to provide accurate and reliable information. Our customers choose to purchase authentic and quality products on our website due in part to the attractive prices that we offer, and they may choose to shop elsewhere if we cannot match the prices offered by other websites or by physical stores. If our customers cannot find their desired products on our website at attractive prices, they may lose interest in us and visit our website less frequently or even stop visiting our website altogether, which in turn may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We plan to further expand our fulfillment infrastructure. If we are not able to manage such expansion successfully, our growth potential, business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
We believe that our own nationwide fulfillment infrastructure, consisting of strategically located warehouses and delivery and pickup stations, is essential to our success. We operated fulfillment centers in 7 cities, front distribution centers in 6 cities and standalone warehouses for bulky items in another 23 cities, as well as 1,620 delivery stations and 214 pickup stations in 495 cities across China as of March 31, 2014, and we employed 35,557 warehouse and delivery personnel as of April 1, 2014. We are constructing larger, custom-designed warehouses to increase our storage capacity and to restructure and reorganize our fulfillment workflow and processes. We also plan to establish more delivery stations in additional cities to further enhance our ability to deliver products to customers directly ourselves. Furthermore, we intend to hire additional employees in 2014 in connection with the strengthening of our fulfillment capabilities. As we continue to add fulfillment and warehouse capability, our fulfillment network becomes increasingly complex and challenging to operate. We cannot assure you that we will be able to acquire land use rights and set up warehouses, or lease suitable facilities for the delivery stations, on commercially acceptable terms or at all. Moreover, the order density in those smaller, less developed cities may not be sufficient to allow us to operate our own delivery network in a cost efficient manner. We may not be able to recruit a sufficient number of qualified employees in connection with the expansion of our fulfillment infrastructure. In addition, the expansion of our fulfillment infrastructure may strain our managerial, financial, operational and other resources. If we fail to manage such expansion successfully, our growth potential, business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Even if we manage the expansion of our fulfillment infrastructure
21
successfully, it may not give us the competitive advantage that we expect if improved third-party fulfillment services become widely available at reasonable prices to retailers in China.
We face intense competition. We may lose market share and customers if we fail to compete effectively.
The online retail industry in China is intensely competitive. We compete for customers, orders, and third-party sellers. Our current or potential competitors include major online retailers in China that offer a wide range of general merchandise product categories, major traditional retailers in China that are moving into online retailing, major internet companies that have commenced online retail businesses, online retail companies in China focused on specific product categories and physical retail stores, including big-box stores that also aim to offer a one-stop shopping experience. See "BusinessCompetition." In addition, new and enhanced technologies may increase the competition in the online retail industry. New competitive business models may appear, for example based on new forms of social media or social commerce.
Increased competition may reduce our margins, market share and brand recognition, or result in significant losses. When we set prices, we have to consider how competitors have set prices for the same or similar products. When they cut prices or offer additional benefits to compete with us, we may have to lower our own prices or offer additional benefits or risk losing market share, either of which could harm our financial condition and results of operations.
Some of our current or future competitors may have longer operating histories, greater brand recognition, better supplier relationships, larger customer bases or greater financial, technical or marketing resources than we do. Those smaller companies or new entrants may be acquired by, receive investment from or enter into strategic relationships with well-established and well-financed companies or investors which would help enhance their competitive positions. Some of our competitors may be able to secure more favorable terms from suppliers, devote greater resources to marketing and promotional campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing or inventory policies and devote substantially more resources to their website, mobile application and systems development than us. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully against current or future competitors, and competitive pressures may have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may encounter risks and difficulties in connection with our strategic partnership and recent acquisition of certain e-commerce businesses and assets from Tencent, which may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We recently announced our acquisition of certain e-commerce businesses and assets from Tencent and our entering into a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent and concurrently we have issued 15% of our total issued and outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis under the treasury method to a subsidiary of Tencent. The e-commerce businesses we acquired from Tencent had net losses historically and we expect to continue to incur losses from these businesses, especially Paipai's C2C marketplace business, in the foreseeable future. In addition, there may be unidentified issues and hidden liabilities related to the businesses and assets we acquired, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. While Tencent has made representations, warranties and covenants to us regarding the businesses and assets we acquired, and we are entitled to seek indemnification from Tencent for any breach of those representations, warranties and covenants, actions to seek indemnification or enforce indemnification could be costly and time-consuming and may not be successful. Moreover, our ongoing strategic partnership with Tencent may discourage us from seeking such indemnification.
We expect substantial synergies between our current operations and the e-commerce businesses we acquired from Tencent. However, we may encounter difficulties in integrating the acquired operations, services, corporate culture and personnel into our existing business and operations and implementing the strategic cooperation agreement that we have entered into with Tencent to achieve
22
the economic and strategic benefits that we expect. These activities may divert significant management attention from existing business operations, which may harm the effective management of our business. In addition, this acquisition would require that our management develop expertise in new areas such as Paipai's C2C marketplace and manage new business relationships. Furthermore, we expect to achieve growth in our mobile user base and realize other benefits in the future from the strategic cooperation agreement. Failure to generate the synergies or realize the intended benefits we anticipate from the acquisition and the strategic cooperation could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
In connection with the acquisition, we have acquired substantial intangible assets from Tencent. We may also grant restricted share units and options to certain employees of Tencent who will join us. As a result, we may incur significant non-cash charges arising from amortization of intangible assets recorded at fair value and share-based compensation, which may materially and adversely affect our results of operations for the quarterly and annual periods including and following the date of completion of the acquisition. In addition, we expect to allocate part of our purchase price for the acquisition to goodwill. We perform a goodwill impairment test annually and evaluate intangible assets and goodwill for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. We may incur significant impairment expenses in relation to the intangible assets or to goodwill attributable to the acquisition from time to time in the future, which may materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
We rely on online direct sale of computer, communication and consumer electronics for a significant portion of our net revenues.
Historically, online direct sales of electronics products, including home appliances, have accounted for a majority of our total net revenues. We expect that sales of these products will continue to represent a significant portion of our total net revenues in the near future. We have increased our offerings to include other product categories, such as a wide array of general merchandise product categories in 2008, cosmetics and other personal care items in 2009, food, beverage, nutritional supplements and books in 2010, music, movies and other media products in 2011, e-books and some private label products in 2012, and groceries in 2013, and we have continually added new products within each product category. We expect to continue to expand our product offerings to diversify our revenue sources in the future. However, our sales of these new products and services may not increase to a level that would substantially reduce our dependence on sales of electronics products. Electronics products and home appliances sold in our online direct sales accounted for 87.0%, 82.2% and 81.9% of our total net revenues in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Electronic products and home appliances sold in our online direct sales and our online marketplace together accounted for 80.1%, 65.3% and 63.6% of our total GMV in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. We face intense competition from online sellers of electronics products and from established companies with physical stores that are moving into online retail, such as Suning Appliance Company Limited, which operates suning.com. Any event that results in a reduction in our sales of electronics products could materially and adversely affect our ability to maintain or increase our current level of revenue and maintain or improve our business prospects.
Our expansion into new product categories and substantial increase in SKUs may expose us to new challenges and more risks.
In recent years, we have expanded our product offerings to include a wide range of products including clothing, handbags, furniture, cosmetics, food, books, toys, and fitness equipment. Expansion into diverse new product categories and substantially increased SKUs involves new risks and challenges. Our lack of familiarity with these products and lack of relevant customer data relating to these products may make it more difficult for us to anticipate customer demand and preferences. We may misjudge customer demand, resulting in inventory buildup and possible inventory write-down. It may
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also make it more difficult for us to inspect and control quality and ensure proper handling, storage and delivery. We may experience higher return rates on new products, receive more customer complaints about them and face costly product liability claims as a result of selling them, which would harm our brand and reputation as well as our financial performance. Furthermore, we may not have much purchasing power in new categories of products and we may not be able to negotiate favorable terms with suppliers. We may need to price aggressively to gain market share or remain competitive in new categories. It may be difficult for us to achieve profitability in the new product categories and our profit margin, if any, may be lower than we anticipate, which would adversely affect our overall profitability and results of operations. We cannot assure you that we will be able to recoup our investments in introducing these new product categories.
If we fail to manage our inventory effectively, our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity may be materially and adversely affected.
Our scale and business model require us to manage a large volume of inventory effectively. We depend on our demand forecasts for various kinds of products to make purchase decisions and to manage our inventory. Demand for products, however, can change significantly between the time inventory is ordered and the date by which we hope to sell it. Demand may be affected by seasonality, new product launches, changes in product cycles and pricing, product defects, changes in consumer spending patterns, changes in consumer tastes with respect to our products and other factors, and our customers may not order products in the quantities that we expect. In addition, when we begin selling a new product, it may be difficult to establish supplier relationships, determine appropriate product selection, and accurately forecast demand. The acquisition of certain types of inventory may require significant lead time and prepayment and they may not be returnable. For those products we sell directly, aside from books, most media products and certain other products, we normally do not have the right to return unsold items to our suppliers.
Our net inventories have increased significantly in recent periods, from RMB2,764 million as of December 31, 2011 to RMB4,754 million as of December 31, 2012, and further to RMB6,386 million (US$1,055 million) as of December 31, 2013. Our inventory turnover days were 34.6 days in 2011, 35.7 days in 2012 and 32.1 days in 2013. As we plan to continue expanding our product offerings, we expect to include more SKUs in our inventory, which will make it more challenging for us to manage our inventory effectively and will put more pressure on our warehousing system.
If we fail to manage our inventory effectively, we may be subject to a heightened risk of inventory obsolescence, a decline in inventory values, and significant inventory write-downs or write-offs. In addition, we may be required to lower sale prices in order to reduce inventory level, which may lead to lower gross margins. High inventory levels may also require us to commit substantial capital resources, preventing us from using that capital for other important purposes. Any of the above may materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
On the other hand, if we underestimate demand for our products, or if our suppliers fail to supply quality products in a timely manner, we may experience inventory shortages, which might result in missed sales, diminished brand loyalty and lost revenues, any of which could harm our business and reputation.
We may not be able to sustain our historical growth rates.
We have experienced rapid growth since we commenced our online retail business in 2004. Our total net revenues increased from RMB2,919 million in 2009 to RMB69,340 million in 2013, for a four-year CAGR of 120%. However, there is no assurance that we will be able to maintain our historical growth rates in future periods. Our revenue growth may slow or our revenues may decline for any number of possible reasons, including decreasing consumer spending, increasing competition, slowing growth of the China retail or China online retail industry, fulfillment bottlenecks, emergence of alternative business models, changes in government policies or general economic conditions. If our
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growth rate declines, investors' perceptions of our business and business prospects may be adversely affected and the market price of our ADSs could decline.
If we are unable to conduct our marketing activities cost-effectively, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.
We have incurred significant expenses on a variety of different marketing and brand promotion efforts designed to enhance our brand recognition and increase sales of our products. Our brand promotion and marketing activities may not be well received by customers and may not result in the levels of product sales that we anticipate. We incurred RMB479 million, RMB1,097 million and RMB1,590 million (US$263 million) of marketing expenses in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Marketing approaches and tools in the consumer products market in China are evolving. This further requires us to enhance our marketing approaches and experiment with new marketing methods to keep pace with industry developments and customer preferences. Failure to refine our existing marketing approaches or to introduce new marketing approaches in a cost-effective manner could reduce our market share, cause our net revenues to decline and negatively impact our profitability.
If we fail to manage and expand our relationships with suppliers, or otherwise fail to procure products at favorable terms, our business and growth prospects may suffer.
We source products from third-party suppliers for our online direct sales. We had approximately 6,000 suppliers as of March 31, 2014. Our suppliers include manufacturers, distributors and resellers. Maintaining strong relationships with these suppliers is important to the growth of our business. In particular, we depend significantly on our ability to procure products from suppliers on favorable pricing terms. We typically enter into one-year framework agreements with suppliers on an annual basis, and these framework agreements do not ensure the availability of products or the continuation of particular pricing practices or payment terms beyond the end of the contractual term. In addition, our agreements with suppliers typically do not restrict the suppliers from selling products to other buyers. We cannot assure you that our current suppliers will continue to sell products to us on commercially acceptable terms, or at all, after the term of the current agreement expires. Even if we maintain good relations with our suppliers, their ability to supply products to us in sufficient quantity and at competitive prices may be adversely affected by economic conditions, labor actions, regulatory or legal decisions, natural disasters or other causes. In the event that we are not able to purchase merchandise at favorable prices, our revenues and cost of revenues may be materially and adversely affected. In the event any distributor or reseller does not have authority from the relevant manufacturer to sell certain products to us, such distributor or reseller may cease selling such products to us at any time. In addition, our account payable turnover days for our online direct sales business were 35.3 days in 2011, 42.1 days in 2012 and 38.6 days in 2013. If our suppliers cease to provide us with favorable payment terms, our requirements for working capital may increase and our operations may be materially and adversely affected. We will also need to establish new supplier relationships to ensure that we have access to a steady supply of products on favorable commercial terms. If we are unable to develop and maintain good relationships with suppliers that would allow us to obtain a sufficient amount and variety of authentic and quality merchandise on acceptable commercial terms, it may inhibit our ability to offer sufficient products sought by our customers, or to offer these products at competitive prices. Any adverse developments in our relationships with suppliers could materially and adversely affect our business and growth prospects. In addition, as part of our growth strategy, we plan to further expand our product offerings. If we fail to attract new suppliers to sell their products to us due to any reason, our business and growth prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
Any interruption in the operation of our fulfillment centers, front distribution centers, standalone warehouses, delivery stations or pickup stations for an extended period may have an adverse impact on our business.
Our ability to process and fulfill orders accurately and provide high quality customer service depends on the smooth operation of our fulfillment centers, front distribution centers, standalone
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warehouses, and our delivery and pickup stations. Our fulfillment infrastructure may be vulnerable to damage caused by fire, flood, power outage, telecommunications failure, break-ins, earthquake, human error and other events. If any of our fulfillment centers were rendered incapable of operations, then we may be unable to fulfill any orders in any of the provinces that rely on that center. We do not carry business interruption insurance, and the occurrence of any of the foregoing risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be able to recoup the investments we make to expand and upgrade our fulfillment and technology capabilities.
We have invested and will continue to invest significant sums in expanding our fulfillment infrastructure and upgrading our technology platform. In connection with our expansion of our fulfillment infrastructure, we had paid an aggregate of approximately RMB0.8 billion (US$0.1 billion) for the acquisition of land use rights, building of warehouses and purchase of warehousing equipment as of December 31, 2013, and we have budgeted approximately RMB1.5 billion (US$0.2 billion) to RMB2.5 billion (US$0.4 billion), including part of the proceeds of this offering, for these uses in 2014. We have also budgeted approximately RMB0.4 billion (US$0.1 billion) from our existing capital resources for upgrading our technology platform during the same period. We expect to continue to invest heavily in our fulfillment and technology capabilities for a number of years. We also intend to continue to add personnel and other resources to our fulfillment infrastructure and technology platform as we focus on expanding our product selection and offering new services. We are likely to recognize the costs associated with these investments earlier than some of the anticipated benefits, and the return on these investments may be lower, or may develop more slowly, than we expect. We may not be able to recover our capital expenditures or investments, in part or in full, or the recovery of these capital expenditures or investments may take longer than expected. As a result, the carrying value of the related assets may be subject to an impairment charge, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operation.
Moreover, our heavy investment in building our own fulfillment infrastructure may put us at a competitive disadvantage against those competitors who primarily rely on third-party fulfillment services and focus their investment on improving other aspects of their business. We have designed our own fulfillment infrastructure to satisfy our business and operation requirements and to accommodate our fast growth, but there is no guarantee that we will be successful in meeting our objectives or that our own fulfillment structure will function more effectively and efficiently than third-party solutions.
We use third-party couriers to deliver some orders, and our third-party sellers use couriers to deliver a significant number of orders. If these couriers fail to provide reliable delivery services, our business and reputation may be materially and adversely affected.
We maintain cooperation arrangements with a number of third-party couriers to deliver our products to our customers in those areas not covered by our own fulfillment infrastructure, particularly in smaller and less developed cities. We may also use third-party service providers to ship products from our fulfillment centers or front distribution centers to delivery stations or to deliver bulky item products. Third-party sellers also use third-party couriers if they do not make use of our delivery services. Interruptions to or failures in these third parties' delivery services could prevent the timely or proper delivery of our products to customers. These interruptions may be due to events that are beyond our control or the control of these delivery companies, such as inclement weather, natural disasters, transportation disruptions or labor unrest. In addition, if our third-party couriers fail to comply with applicable rules and regulations in China, our delivery services may be materially and adversely affected. We may not be able to find alternative delivery companies to provide delivery services in a timely and reliable manner, or at all. Delivery of our products could also be affected or interrupted by the merger, acquisition, insolvency or government shut-down of the delivery companies we engage to make deliveries, especially those local companies with relatively small business scales. If
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our products are not delivered in proper condition or on a timely basis, our business and reputation could suffer.
Our online marketplace is subject to risks associated with third-party sellers.
We launched our online marketplace in October 2010. As of March 31, 2014, there were over 29,000 third-party sellers who offered and sold approximately 37.8 million SKUs through our online marketplace. We do not have as much control over the storage and delivery of products sold on our online marketplace as we do over the products that we sell directly ourselves. Many of our third-party sellers use their own facilities to store their products, and many of them use their own or third-party delivery systems to deliver their products to our customers, which makes it more difficult for us to ensure that our customers get the same high quality service for all products sold on our website. If any third-party seller does not control the quality of the products that it sells on our website, or if it does not deliver the products or delivers them late or delivers products that are materially different from its description of them, or if it sells counterfeit or unlicensed products on our website, or if it sells certain products without licenses or permits as required by the relevant laws and regulations even though we have requested such licenses or permits in our standard form contract with the third-party seller, the reputation of our online marketplace and our JD brand may be materially and adversely affected and we could face claims that we should be held liable for any losses. Moreover, despite our efforts to prevent it, some products sold on our online marketplace may compete with the products we sell directly, which may cannibalize our online direct sales. In addition, the supplier relationships, customer acquisition dynamics and other requirements for our online marketplace may not be the same as those for our online direct sales operations, which may complicate the management of our business. In order for our online marketplace to be successful, we must continue to identify and attract third-party sellers, and we may not be successful in this regard.
Uncertainties relating to the growth and profitability of the retail industry in China in general, and the online retail industry in particular, could adversely affect our revenues and business prospects.
We generate substantially all of our revenues from online retail. While online retail has existed in China since the 1990s, only recently have certain large online retail companies become profitable. The long-term viability and prospects of various online retail business models in China remain relatively untested. Our future results of operations will depend on numerous factors affecting the development of the online retail industry in China, which may be beyond our control. These factors include:
A decline in the popularity of online shopping in general, or any failure by us to adapt our website and improve the online shopping experience of our customers in response to trends and consumer requirements, may adversely affect our net revenues and business prospects.
Furthermore, the retail industry is very sensitive to macroeconomic changes, and retail purchases tend to decline during recessionary periods. Substantially all of our net revenues are derived from retail sales in China. Many factors outside of our control, including inflation and deflation, volatility of stock and property markets, interest rates, tax rates and other government policies and unemployment rates can adversely affect consumer confidence and spending, which could in turn
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materially and adversely affect our growth and profitability. Unfavorable developments in domestic and international politics, including military conflicts, political turmoil and social instability, may also adversely affect consumer confidence and reduce spending, which could in turn materially and adversely affect our growth and profitability.
In connection with the audits of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2013, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified one material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.
Prior to this offering, we have been a private company with limited accounting personnel and other resources with which to address our internal control over financial reporting. In connection with the audits of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2013, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified one material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. As defined in the standards established by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a "material weakness" is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
The material weakness that has been identified relates to our lack of sufficient financial reporting and accounting personnel with appropriate knowledge of U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting requirements to properly address complex U.S. GAAP accounting issues and to prepare and review our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures to fulfill U.S. GAAP and SEC financial reporting requirements. The material weakness, if not timely remedied, may lead to significant misstatements in our consolidated financial statements in the future.
Neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm undertook a comprehensive assessment of our internal control for purposes of identifying and reporting material weaknesses and other control deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting as we and they will be required to do after we become a public company. Had we performed a formal assessment of our internal control over financial reporting or had our independent registered public accounting firm performed an audit of our internal control over financial reporting, additional deficiencies may have been identified.
Following the identification of the material weakness and other control deficiencies, we have taken measures and plan to continue to take measures to remedy these control deficiencies. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsInternal Control over Financial Reporting." However, the implementation of these measures may not fully address these deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting, and we cannot conclude that they have been fully remedied. Our failure to correct these control deficiencies or our failure to discover and address any other control deficiencies could result in inaccuracies in our financial statements and impair our ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and related regulatory filings on a timely basis. Moreover, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could significantly hinder our ability to prevent fraud.
We are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will require that we include a report from management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report on Form 20-F beginning with our annual report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015. In addition, beginning at the same time, our independent registered public accounting firm must report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to remedy the problems identified above, our management and our independent registered public accounting firm may conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective. This conclusion could adversely impact the market price of our ADSs due to a loss of investor
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confidence in the reliability of our reporting processes. We also expect to incur significant costs and expenses associated with our becoming a public company, including costs to prepare for our first Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Section 404 compliance testing and additional legal and accounting costs to comply with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, that apply to us as a public company.
If our senior management is unable to work together effectively or efficiently or if we lose their services, our business may be severely disrupted.
Our success heavily depends upon the continued services of our management. In particular, we rely on the expertise and experience of Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, and other executive officers. The majority of our senior management joined us in the past three years. If they cannot work together effectively or efficiently, our business may be severely disrupted. If one or more of our senior management were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we might not be able to replace them easily or at all, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. If any of our senior management joins a competitor or forms a competing business, we may lose customers, suppliers, know-how and key professionals and staff members. Our senior management has entered into employment agreements and confidentiality and non-competition agreements with us. However, if any dispute arises between our officers and us, we may have to incur substantial costs and expenses in order to enforce such agreements in China or we may be unable to enforce them at all.
If we are unable to recruit, train and retain qualified personnel or sufficient workforce while controlling our labor costs, our business may be materially and adversely affected.
We intend to hire additional qualified employees to support our business operations and planned expansion. Our future success depends, to a significant extent, on our ability to recruit, train and retain qualified personnel, particularly technical, fulfillment, marketing and other operational personnel with experience in the online retail industry. Our experienced mid-level managers are instrumental in implementing our business strategies, executing our business plans and supporting our business operations and growth. The effective operation of our managerial and operating systems, fulfillment infrastructure, customer service center and other back office functions also depends on the hard work and quality performance of our management and employees. Since our industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent and labor, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to attract or retain qualified staff or other highly skilled employees that we will need to achieve our strategic objectives. Our fulfillment infrastructure is labor intensive and requires a substantial number of blue-collar workers, and these positions tend to have higher than average turnover. As of April 1, 2014, we employed a total of 35,557 warehouse and delivery personnel. In 2014, we may hire additional employees in connection with the strengthening of our fulfillment capabilities and research and development personnel in connection with the expansion of our technology platform. We have observed an overall tightening of the labor market and an emerging trend of shortage of labor supply. Failure to obtain stable and dedicated warehousing, delivery and other labor support may lead to underperformance of these functions and cause disruption to our business. Labor costs in China have increased with China's economic development, particularly in the large cities where we operate our fulfillment centers and more generally in the urban areas where we maintain our delivery and pickup stations. Because we operate our own fulfillment infrastructure, which requires a large and rapidly growing work force, our cost structure is more vulnerable to labor costs than that of many of our competitors, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, our ability to train and integrate new employees into our operations may also be limited and may not meet the demand for our business growth on a timely fashion, or at all, and rapid expansion may impair our ability to maintain our corporate culture.
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We may incur liability or become subject to administrative penalties for counterfeit or unauthorized products sold on our website, or for products sold on our website or content posted on our website that infringe on third-party intellectual property rights, or for other misconduct.
We sourced our products from approximately 6,000 suppliers as of March 31, 2014. Third-party sellers on our online marketplace are separately responsible for sourcing the products they sell on our website. As of March 31, 2014, we had over 29,000 third-party sellers on our online marketplace. Although we have adopted measures to verify the authenticity and authorization of products sold on our website and avoid potential infringement of third-party intellectual property rights in the course of sourcing and selling products, we may not always be successful.
In the event that counterfeit, unauthorized or infringing products are sold on our website or infringing content is posted on our website, we could face claims that we should be held liable. We have in the past received claims alleging our infringement of third parties' rights. Irrespective of the validity of such claims, we could incur significant costs and efforts in either defending against or settling such claims. If there is a successful claim against us, we might be required to pay substantial damages or refrain from further sale of the relevant products. Potential liability under PRC law if we negligently participated or assisted in infringement activities associated with counterfeit goods includes injunctions to cease infringing activities, rectification, compensation, administrative penalties and even criminal liability. Moreover, such third-party claims or administrative penalties could result in negative publicity and our reputation could be severely damaged. Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Under our standard form agreements, we require suppliers or third-party sellers to indemnify us for any losses we suffer or any costs that we incur due to any products we source from these suppliers or any products sold by these third-party sellers. However, not all of our agreements with suppliers and third-party sellers have such terms, and for those agreements that have such terms, we may not be able to successfully enforce our contractual rights and may need to initiate costly and lengthy legal proceedings in China to protect our rights. See "Risks Related to Doing Business in ChinaWe may be adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC regulation of internet-related business and companies."
We may be subject to product liability claims if people or properties are harmed by the products we sell.
We sell products manufactured by third parties, some of which may be defectively designed or manufactured. As a result, sales of such products could expose us to product liability claims relating to personal injury or property damage and may require product recalls or other actions. Third parties subject to such injury or damage may bring claims or legal proceedings against us as the retailer of the product. Although we would have legal recourse against the manufacturer of such products under PRC law, attempting to enforce our rights against the manufacturer may be expensive, time-consuming and ultimately futile. In addition, we do not currently maintain any third-party liability insurance or product liability insurance in relation to products we sell. As a result, any material product liability claim or litigation could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even unsuccessful claims could result in the expenditure of funds and managerial efforts in defending them and could have a negative impact on our reputation.
The proper functioning of our technology platform is essential to our business. Any failure to maintain the satisfactory performance of our website and systems could materially and adversely affect our business and reputation.
The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our technology platform are critical to our success and our ability to attract and retain customers and provide quality customer service. All of our sales of products are made online through our website and mobile applications, and the
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fulfillment services we provide to third-party sellers are related to sales of their products through our website and mobile applications. Any system interruptions caused by telecommunications failures, computer viruses, hacking or other attempts to harm our systems that result in the unavailability or slowdown of our website or reduced order fulfillment performance could reduce the volume of products sold and the attractiveness of product offerings on our website. Our servers may also be vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions, which could lead to system interruptions, website slowdown or unavailability, delays or errors in transaction processing, loss of data or the inability to accept and fulfill customer orders. Security breaches, computer viruses and hacking attacks have become more prevalent in our industry. Because of our brand recognition in the online retail industry in China, we believe we are a particularly attractive target for such attacks. We have experienced in the past, and may experience in the future, such attacks and unexpected interruptions. We can provide no assurance that our current security mechanisms will be sufficient to protect our IT systems from any third-party intrusions, viruses or hacker attacks, information or data theft or other similar activities. Any such future occurrences could reduce customer satisfaction, damage our reputation and result in a material decrease in our revenue.
Additionally, we must continue to upgrade and improve our technology platform to support our business growth, and failure to do so could impede our growth. However, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in executing these system upgrades and improvement strategies. In particular, our systems may experience interruptions during upgrades, and the new technologies or infrastructures may not be fully integrated with the existing systems on a timely basis, or at all. In addition, we experience surges in online traffic and orders associated with promotional activities and holiday seasons, such as June 18 and November 11, which can put additional demands on our technology platform at specific times. If our existing or future technology platform does not function properly, it could cause system disruptions and slow response times, affecting data transmission, which in turn could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Any deficiencies in China's internet infrastructure could impair our ability to sell products over our website and mobile applications, which could cause us to lose customers and harm our operating results.
All of our sales of products are made online through our website and mobile applications, and the fulfillment services we provide to third-party sellers are related to sales of their products through our website and mobile applications. Our business depends on the performance and reliability of the internet infrastructure in China. The availability of our website depends on telecommunications carriers and other third-party providers for communications and storage capacity, including bandwidth and server storage, among other things. If we are unable to enter into and renew agreements with these providers on acceptable terms, or if any of our existing agreements with such providers are terminated as a result of our breach or otherwise, our ability to provide our services to our customers could be adversely affected. Almost all access to the internet in China is maintained through state-owned telecommunication carriers under administrative control, and we obtain access to end-user networks operated by such telecommunications carriers and internet service providers to give customers access to our website. We have experienced service interruptions in the past, which were typically caused by service interruptions at the underlying external telecommunications service providers, such as the internet data centers and broadband carriers from which we lease services. Service interruptions prevent consumers from accessing our website and mobile applications and placing orders, and frequent interruptions could frustrate customers and discourage them from attempting to place orders, which could cause us to lose customers and harm our operating results.
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If we fail to adopt new technologies or adapt our website, mobile applications and systems to changing customer requirements or emerging industry standards, our business may be materially and adversely affected.
To remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the responsiveness, functionality and features of our website and mobile applications. The internet and the online retail industry are characterized by rapid technological evolution, changes in customer requirements and preferences, frequent introductions of new products and services embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards and practices, any of which could render our existing technologies and systems obsolete. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to identify, develop, acquire or license leading technologies useful in our business, and respond to technological advances and emerging industry standards and practices, such as mobile internet, in a cost-effective and timely way. The development of websites, mobile applications and other proprietary technology entails significant technical and business risks. We cannot assure you that we will be able to use new technologies effectively or adapt our website, mobile applications, proprietary technologies and systems to meet customer requirements or emerging industry standards. If we are unable to adapt in a cost-effective and timely manner in response to changing market conditions or customer requirements, whether for technical, legal, financial or other reasons, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Customer growth and activity on mobile devices depends upon effective use of mobile operating systems, networks and standards that we do not control.
Purchases using mobile devices by consumers generally, and by our customers specifically, have increased significantly, and we expect this trend to continue. To optimize the mobile shopping experience, we are somewhat dependent on our customers downloading our specific mobile applications for their particular devices as opposed to accessing our sites from an internet browser on their mobile device. As new mobile devices and platforms are released, it is difficult to predict the problems we may encounter in developing applications for these alternative devices and platforms, and we may need to devote significant resources to the development, support and maintenance of such applications. In addition, our future growth and our results of operations could suffer if we experience difficulties in the future in integrating our mobile applications into mobile devices or if problems arise with our relationships with providers of mobile operating systems or mobile application download stores, if our applications receive unfavorable treatment compared to competing applications on the download stores, or if we face increased costs to distribute or have customers use our mobile applications. We are further dependent on the interoperability of our sites with popular mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as iOS and Android, and any changes in such systems that degrade the functionality of our sites or give preferential treatment to competitive products could adversely affect the usage of our sites on mobile devices. In the event that it is more difficult for our customers to access and use our sites on their mobile devices, or if our customers choose not to access or to use our sites on their mobile devices or to use mobile products that do not offer access to our sites, our customer growth could be harmed and our business, financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.
Failure to protect confidential information of our customers and network against security breaches could damage our reputation and brand and substantially harm our business and results of operations.
A significant challenge to the online retail industry is the secure storage of confidential information and its secure transmission over public networks. All of the orders and some of the payments for products we offer are made through our website and our mobile applications. In addition, some online payments for our products are settled through third-party online payment services. We also share certain personal information about our customers with contracted third-party couriers, such as their names, addresses, phone numbers and transaction records. Maintaining complete security for the
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storage and transmission of confidential information on our technology platform, such as customer names, personal information and billing addresses, is essential to maintaining customer confidence.
We have adopted security policies and measures, including encryption technology, to protect our proprietary data and customer information. However, advances in technology, the expertise of hackers, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other events or developments could result in a compromise or breach of the technology that we use to protect confidential information. We may not be able to prevent third parties, especially hackers or other individuals or entities engaging in similar activities, from illegally obtaining such confidential or private information we hold as a result of our customers' visits to our website and use of our mobile applications. Such individuals or entities obtaining our customers' confidential or private information may further engage in various other illegal activities using such information. In addition, we have limited control or influence over the security policies or measures adopted by third-party providers of online payment services through which some of our customers may elect to make payment for purchases. The contracted third-party couriers we use may also violate their confidentiality obligations and disclose or use information about our customers illegally. Any negative publicity on our website's or mobile applications' safety or privacy protection mechanisms and policies, and any claims asserted against us or fines imposed upon us as a result of actual or perceived failures, could have a material and adverse effect on our public image, reputation, financial condition and results of operations. We have experienced breaches of our information security measures in the past due to external causes beyond our control, such as a leak of user account information from the China Software Developer Network (CSDN) in 2011, although none of the past breaches individually or in the aggregate was material to our business or operations. We cannot assure you that similar events will not occur in the future. If we give third parties greater access to our technology platform in the future as part of providing more technology services to third-party sellers and others, it may become more challenging for us to ensure the security of our systems. Any compromise of our information security or the information security measures of our contracted third-party couriers or third-party online payment service providers could have a material and adverse effect on our reputation, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Practices regarding the collection, use, storage, transmission and security of personal information by companies operating over the internet and mobile platforms have recently come under increased public scrutiny. As online retail continues to evolve, we believe that increased regulation by the PRC government of data privacy on the internet is likely. We may become subject to new laws and regulations applying to the solicitation, collection, processing or use of personal or consumer information that could affect how we store, process and share data with our customers, suppliers and third-party sellers. We generally comply with industry standards and are subject to the terms of our own privacy policies. Compliance with any additional laws could be expensive, and may place restrictions on the conduct of our business and the manner in which we interact with our customers. Any failure to comply with applicable regulations could also result in regulatory enforcement actions against us.
Significant capital and other resources may be required to protect against information security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches or to comply with our privacy policies or privacy-related legal obligations. The resources required may increase over time as the methods used by hackers and others engaged in online criminal activities are increasingly sophisticated and constantly evolving. Any failure or perceived failure by us to prevent information security breaches or to comply with privacy policies or privacy-related legal obligations, or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other customer data, could cause our customers to lose trust in us and could expose us to legal claims. Any perception by the public that online transactions or the privacy of user information are becoming increasingly unsafe or vulnerable to attacks could inhibit the growth of online retail and other online services generally, which may reduce the number of orders we receive.
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The wide variety of payment methods that we accept subjects us to third-party payment processing-related risks.
We accept payments using a variety of methods, including payment on delivery, bank transfers, online payments with credit cards and debit cards issued by major banks in China, and payment through third-party online payment platforms such as 99Bill, CMPay and UnionPay. For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower our profit margins. We may also be subject to fraud and other illegal activities in connection with the various payment methods we offer, including online payment and cash on delivery options. We also rely on third parties to provide payment processing services. Although we deliver a majority of the orders directly to customers ourselves, we use contracted third-party couriers to service areas that are not directly covered by our delivery network. Given that customers place their orders online but often choose the cash-on-delivery option, the delivery personnel of our contracted third-party couriers collect payments on our behalf, and we require the contracted third-party couriers to remit the payment collected to us on the following day. If these companies fail to remit the payment collected to us in a timely fashion or at all, if they become unwilling or unable to provide these services to us, or if their service quality deteriorates, our business could be disrupted. We are also subject to various rules, regulations and requirements, regulatory or otherwise, governing electronic funds transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, we may be subject to fines and higher transaction fees and lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our customers, process electronic funds transfers or facilitate other types of online payments, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Our delivery, return and exchange policies may adversely affect our results of operations.
We have adopted shipping policies that do not necessarily pass the full cost of shipping on to our customers. We also have adopted customer-friendly return and exchange policies that make it convenient and easy for customers to change their minds after completing purchases. We may also be required by law to adopt new or amend existing return and exchange policies from time to time. For example, pursuant to the recently amended Consumer Protection Law, which became effective in March 2014, consumers are generally entitled to return the products purchased within seven days upon receipt without giving any reasons when they purchase the products from business operators on the internet. See "Regulations Relating to Product Quality and Consumer Protection." These policies improve customers' shopping experience and promote customer loyalty, which in turn help us acquire and retain customers. However, these policies also subject us to additional costs and expenses which we may not recoup through increased revenue. Our ability to handle a large volume of returns is unproven. If our return and exchange policy is misused by a significant number of customers, our costs may increase significantly and our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. If we revise these policies to reduce our costs and expenses, our customers may be dissatisfied, which may result in loss of existing customers or failure to acquire new customers at a desirable pace, which may materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
We have limited experience in operating an internet finance business. Significant deterioration in the asset quality of our internet finance business may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We have recently started to participate in the emerging internet finance sector in China. We have developed various financial products, including supply chain financing as an additional value-added service we provide to our suppliers and third-party sellers on our online marketplace, and consumer financing. Expansion in this new business area involves new risks and challenges. For certain
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financial products, we have committed or will commit our own capital. Our lack of familiarity with the internet finance sector may make it difficult for us to anticipate the demands and preferences in the market and develop financial products that meet the requirements and preference. We may not be able to successfully identify new product and service opportunities or develop and introduce these opportunities to our clients in a timely and cost-effective manner, or our clients may be disappointed in the returns from financial products that we offer. Furthermore, our ability to manage the quality of our loan portfolio will have significant impact on the results of operations of our internet finance business. Deterioration in the overall quality of our loan portfolio may occur due to a variety of reasons, including factors beyond our control, such as a slowdown in the growth of the PRC or global economies or a liquidity or credit crisis in the PRC or global finance sectors, which may adversely affect the businesses, operations or liquidity of our suppliers, third-party sellers and customers or their ability to repay or roll over their debt. Any significant deterioration in the asset quality of our internet finance business may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our use of some leased properties could be challenged by third parties or government authorities, which may cause interruptions to our business operations.
Approximately 18% of the lessors of our leased warehouses, approximately 41% of the lessors of our leased offices, and approximately 39% of the lessors of our leased delivery stations and pickup stations have not provided us with their property ownership certificates or any other documentation proving their right to lease those properties to us. If our lessors are not the owners of the properties and they have not obtained consents from the owners or their lessors or permits from the relevant government authorities, our leases could be invalidated. If this occurs, we may have to renegotiate the leases with the owners or the parties who have the right to lease the properties, and the terms of the new leases may be less favorable to us. Some of the leased properties were also subject to mortgage at the time the leases were entered into. If no consent had been obtained from the mortgage holder under such circumstances, the lease may not be binding on the transferee of the property in the event that the mortgage holder forecloses on the mortgage and transfers the property to another party. In addition, a substantial portion of our leasehold interests in leased properties have not been registered with the relevant PRC government authorities as required by PRC law, which may expose us to potential fines.
As of the date of this prospectus, we are not aware of any claims or actions being contemplated or initiated by government authorities, property owners or any other third parties with respect to our leasehold interests in or use of such properties. However, we cannot assure you that our use of such leased properties will not be challenged. In the event that our use of properties is successfully challenged, we may be subject to fines and forced to relocate the affected operations. In addition, we may become involved in disputes with the property owners or third parties who otherwise have rights to or interests in our leased properties. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to find suitable replacement sites on terms acceptable to us on a timely basis, or at all, or that we will not be subject to material liability resulting from third parties' challenges on our use of such properties. As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Failure to renew our current leases or locate desirable alternatives for our facilities could materially and adversely affect our business.
We lease properties for our offices, customer service center, warehouses, sorting centers, and delivery and pickup stations. We may not be able to successfully extend or renew such leases upon expiration of the current term on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and may therefore be forced to relocate our affected operations. This could disrupt our operations and result in significant
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relocation expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we compete with other businesses for premises at certain locations or of desirable sizes. As a result, even though we could extend or renew our leases, rental payments may significantly increase as a result of the high demand for the leased properties. In addition, we may not be able to locate desirable alternative sites for our facilities as our business continues to grow and failure in relocating our affected operations could adversely affect our business and operations.
Any lack of requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is subject to governmental supervision and regulation by the relevant PRC governmental authorities, including but not limited to the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or MIIT, the Ministry of Transport, the State Post Bureau and the People's Bank of China. Together, these government authorities promulgate and enforce regulations that cover many aspects of the operation of the online retail, courier, road freight transportation and internet finance industries, including entry into these industries, the scope of permissible business activities, licenses and permits for various business activities, and foreign investment. See "RegulationRegulations Relating to Foreign Investment" and "RegulationLicenses and Permits".
Under PRC law, an entity operating courier services across multiple provinces must obtain a cross-provincial Courier Service Operation Permit and conduct its courier services within the permitted scope as indicated in the permit. Furthermore, any entity engaging in road freight transportation services in China must obtain a Road Transportation Operation Permit from the relevant road transportation administrative authorities. We operate a nationwide road freight transportation and delivery network. As of the date of this prospectus, we have obtained two cross-provincial Courier Service Operation Permits that allow Jiangsu Jingdong and Jingbangda, two of our PRC subsidiaries providing logistics services, to operate an express delivery business in twelve provinces and ten cities in other provinces in China, and Jiangsu Jingdong and its fifteen branches and Jingbangda have obtained Road Transportation Operation Permits that allow these entities to provide road freight transportation services. We are in the process of applying for extension of the coverage of our Courier Service Operation Permits to other areas of China and for additional Road Transportation Operation Permits for Jiangsu Jingdong's other branches, and Jingbangda's branches from the appropriate level of government authorities and obtaining necessary licenses for all of our vehicles used for transporting goods. However, we cannot assure you that we can obtain such permits and licenses in a timely manner, or at all, due to complex procedural requirements and policies.
In addition, the online services and payment services provided by Jingdong 360, one of our consolidated variable interest entities, for our PRC subsidiaries and third-party sellers on our website may be considered as online data processing and transaction processing services and subject to license from the MIIT. We plan to apply to expand the scope of Jingdong 360's value-added telecommunication license to cover online data processing and transaction processing services. However, we cannot assure you that we can obtain the approval to expand the scope of such license in a timely manner, or at all. Also we issue one type of prepaid cards which can be used to buy most of the products sold on our website, including those sold by third-party sellers on our online marketplace. These cards may be deemed to be multiple-purpose commercial pre-paid cards and if so, a license from the relevant authority is required. An indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Jingdong 360 has applied to the relevant government authority for the expansion of the business types covered by its Payment Service License to cover issuance and acceptance of pre-paid cards, and the application has been publicized by the relevant government authority on its official website. However, we cannot assure you that we can obtain the approval to expand the business types of the license in a timely manner, or at all.
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Furthermore, we work with some lottery issuers and lottery sales agents to sell lottery tickets on our website, through which we provide the online selling platform service to the lottery issuers and lottery sales agents. Under PRC law, any lottery issuer wishing to launch online lottery sales, after obtaining the approval from the relevant authority, is required to submit the application as well as the information on the internet service provider for online lottery sales to the Ministry of Finance for its examination and approval. As of the date of this prospectus, it is unclear to us whether our lottery business partners have obtained such approval from the Ministry of Finance for their online lottery business.
There may be some defects with respect to the process of establishing certain of our indirect subsidiaries in China. Certain subsidiaries of our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China were established without obtaining the prior approval from the relevant government authorities that supervise the relevant industries, and some obtain the relevant permits from the government authority at a level lower than as required. We have not received any notice of warning or been subject to penalties or other disciplinary action from the relevant governmental authorities with respect to these defects. However, we cannot assure you that the relevant governmental authorities would not require us to obtain the approvals, or the permits from proper level of government authorities to cure the defects, or take any other actions retrospectively in the future. If the relevant government authorities require us to cure such defects, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain the approvals, or the permits from proper level of government authorities, in a timely manner or at all.
If the PRC government considers that we were operating without the proper approvals, licenses or permits, it has the power, among other things, to levy fines, confiscate our income, revoke our business licenses, and require us to discontinue our relevant business or impose restrictions on the affected portion of our business. Any of these actions by the PRC government may have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations.
The e-commerce industry, and online retail in particular, is highly regulated by the PRC government. We are required to obtain various licenses and permits from different regulatory authorities in order to distribute certain categories of products on our website. See "RegulationLicenses and Permits." We have made great efforts to obtain all the applicable licenses and permits, but due to the large number of products sold on our website, we may not always be able to do so and we were penalized by governmental authorities for selling products without proper licenses. As we increase our product selection, we may also become subject to new or existing laws and regulations that did not affect us before.
As online retail and internet finance are evolving rapidly in China, new laws and regulations may be adopted from time to time to require additional licenses and permits other than those we currently have, and to address new issues that arise from time to time. As a result, substantial uncertainties exist regarding the interpretation and implementation of PRC laws and regulations applicable to online retail businesses and internet finance businesses. If we are unable to maintain and renew one or more of our licenses and certificates when their current term expires, or obtain such renewals on commercially reasonable terms, our operations could be disrupted. For example, in September 2013, the Ministry of Commerce issued draft administrative measures regulating the trading rules of third-party online marketplace platforms for public comment. If the draft administrative measures are adopted into law in the future, we may need to adjust the transaction rules for our online marketplace platform. In addition, in December 2013, as reported by several media outlets, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice to strengthen the supervision on "phantom banks", including new-style internet finance companies, non-financial wealth management companies, financing guarantee companies and microcredit companies, so as to promote the development and innovation of the financial markets as well as to prevent financial crises. Accordingly, if the PRC government requires additional licenses or permits or provides more strict supervision requirements in the future in order
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for us to conduct our businesses, there is no guarantee that we would be able to obtain such licenses or permits or meet all the supervision requirements in a timely manner, or at all.
We have granted, and may continue to grant, restricted share units and other types of awards under our share incentive plans, which may result in increased share-based compensation expenses.
We adopted a stock issuance plan in June 2008, an employee stock incentive plan in February 2009, an employee stock incentive plan in March 2010, an employee stock incentive plan in April 2011 and a special employee stock incentive plan in April 2011. We refer to these five plans collectively as the Original Plans. On December 20, 2013, we adopted our 2013 Share Incentive Plan, or the 2013 Plan, to replace all of the Original Plans, and amended and restated the 2013 Plan in March 2014 increasing the number of shares reserved for future awards under the 2013 Plan. See "Management2013 Share Incentive Plan" for a detailed discussion. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013, we recorded RMB71 million, RMB225 million and RMB261 million (US$42 million), respectively, in share-based compensation expenses. In the first quarter of 2014, we granted 93,780,970 immediately vesting restricted share units to our chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, and we expect to incur share-based compensation expenses in connection with Mr. Liu in an estimated amount of US$591 million in this quarter. In the same quarter, we granted additional 12,296,594 restricted share units and options to purchase an aggregate of 1,955,000 ordinary shares to former Tencent employees who have joined or will join us after our recent transactions with Tencent, and certain of our existing employees and consultants, and we expect to incur additional share-based compensation expenses in connection with these grants. We may grant additional restricted share units and options to former Tencent employees who will join us after our recent transactions with Tencent in the near future and incur additional share-based compensation expenses as a result. We believe the granting of share-based compensation is of significant importance to our ability to attract and retain key personnel and employees, and we will continue to grant share-based compensation to employees in the future. As a result, our expenses associated with share-based compensation may increase, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our results of operations are subject to seasonal fluctuations.
We experience seasonality in our business, reflecting a combination of traditional retail seasonality patterns and new patterns associated with online retail in particular. For example, we generally experience less user traffic and purchase orders during national holidays in China, particularly during the Chinese New Year holiday season in the first quarter of each year. Furthermore, sales in the traditional retail industry are significantly higher in the fourth quarter of each calendar year than in the preceding three quarters. E-commerce companies in China hold special promotional campaigns on November 11 each year, and we hold a special promotional campaign in the second quarter of each year, on June 18, to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of our business, both of which can affect our results for those quarters. Overall, the historical seasonality of our business has been relatively mild due to the rapid growth we have experienced and may increase further in the future. Our financial condition and results of operations for future periods may continue to fluctuate. As a result, the trading price of our ADSs may fluctuate from time to time due to seasonality.
Future strategic alliances, investments or acquisitions may have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation and results of operations.
We may in the future enter into strategic alliances with various third parties to further our business purposes from time to time. Strategic alliances with third parties could subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by the counterparty, and an increase in expenses incurred in establishing new strategic alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. We may have little ability to control or monitor their actions. To the extent the third parties suffer negative publicity or harm to their reputations from
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events relating to their business, we may also suffer negative publicity or harm to our reputation by virtue of our association with such third parties.
In addition, if we are presented with appropriate opportunities, we may invest in or acquire additional assets, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. Future investments or acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our own would require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business operations. The costs of identifying and consummating investments and acquisitions may be significant. We may also incur significant expenses in obtaining necessary approvals from relevant government authorities in China and elsewhere in the world. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. In addition, investments and acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. The cost and duration of integrating newly acquired businesses could also materially exceed our expectations. Any such negative developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may need additional capital, and financing may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all.
We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents and anticipated cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs for the next 12 months. We may, however, require additional cash resources due to changed business conditions or other future developments, including any changes in our account payable policy, marketing initiatives or investments we may decide to pursue. If these resources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to obtain a credit facility or sell additional equity or debt securities. The sale of additional equity securities could result in dilution of our existing shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations. It is uncertain whether financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position.
We regard our trademarks, copyrights, patents, domain names, know-how, proprietary technologies, and similar intellectual property as critical to our success, and we rely on a combination of intellectual property laws and contractual arrangements, including confidentiality, invention assignment and non-compete agreements with our employees and others, to protect our proprietary rights. Although we are not aware of any copycat websites that attempt to cause confusion or diversion of traffic from us at the moment, we may become an attractive target to such attacks in the future because of our brand recognition in the online retail industry in China. Despite these measures, any of our intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or misappropriated, or such intellectual property may not be sufficient to provide us with competitive advantages. In addition, there can be no assurance that our patent applications will be approved, that any issued patents will adequately protect our intellectual property, or that such patents will not be challenged by third parties or found by a judicial authority to be invalid or unenforceable. Further, because of the rapid pace of technological change in our industry, parts of our business rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties, and we may not be able to obtain or continue to obtain licenses and technologies from these third parties at all or on reasonable terms.
It is often difficult to register, maintain and enforce intellectual property rights in China. Statutory laws and regulations are subject to judicial interpretation and enforcement and may not be applied consistently due to the lack of clear guidance on statutory interpretation. Confidentiality, invention assignment and non-compete agreements may be breached by counterparties, and there may
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not be adequate remedies available to us for any such breach. Accordingly, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights or to enforce our contractual rights in China. Policing any unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly and the steps we take may be inadequate to prevent the infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property. In the event that we resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, such litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our managerial and financial resources, and could put our intellectual property at risk of being invalidated or narrowed in scope. We can provide no assurance that we will prevail in such litigation, and even if we do prevail, we may not obtain a meaningful recovery. In addition, our trade secrets may be leaked or otherwise become available to, or be independently discovered by, our competitors. Any failure in maintaining, protecting or enforcing our intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, which may be expensive to defend and may disrupt our business and operations.
We cannot be certain that our operations or any aspects of our business do not or will not infringe upon or otherwise violate patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We have been, and from time to time in the future may be, subject to legal proceedings and claims relating to the intellectual property rights of others. In addition, there may be other third party intellectual property that is infringed by our products, services or other aspects of our business. There could also be existing patents of which we are not aware that our products may inadvertently infringe. We cannot assure you that holders of patents purportedly relating to some aspect of our technology platform or business, if any such holders exist, would not seek to enforce such patents against us in China, the United States or any other jurisdictions. Further, the application and interpretation of China's patent laws and the procedures and standards for granting patents in China are still evolving and are uncertain, and we cannot assure you that PRC courts or regulatory authorities would agree with our analysis. If we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be subject to liability for our infringement activities or may be prohibited from using such intellectual property, and we may incur licensing fees or be forced to develop alternatives of our own. In addition, we may incur significant expenses, and may be forced to divert management's time and other resources from our business and operations to defend against these third-party infringement claims, regardless of their merits. Successful infringement or licensing claims made against us may result in significant monetary liabilities and may materially disrupt our business and operations by restricting or prohibiting our use of the intellectual property in question. Finally, we use open source software in connection with our products and services. Companies that incorporate open source software into their products and services have, from time to time, faced claims challenging the ownership of open source software and compliance with open source license terms. As a result, we could be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software or noncompliance with open source licensing terms. Some open source software licenses require users who distribute open source software as part of their software to publicly disclose all or part of the source code to such software and make available any derivative works of the open source code on unfavorable terms or at no cost. Any requirement to disclose our source code or pay damages for breach of contract could be harmful to our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We have limited insurance coverage which could expose us to significant costs and business disruption.
We maintain various insurance policies to safeguard against risks and unexpected events. We have purchased all risk property insurance covering our inventory and fixed assets such as equipment, furniture and office facilities. We maintain public liability insurance for our business activities at one location. We also provide social security insurance including pension insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance and medical insurance for our employees. Additionally, we
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provide group accident insurance for all employees and supplementary medical insurance for all management and research and development personnel. However, as the insurance industry in China is still in an early stage of development, insurance companies in China currently offer limited business-related insurance products. We do not maintain business interruption insurance or product liability insurance, nor do we maintain key-man life insurance. We cannot assure you that our insurance coverage is sufficient to prevent us from any loss or that we will be able to successfully claim our losses under our current insurance policy on a timely basis, or at all. If we incur any loss that is not covered by our insurance policies, or the compensated amount is significantly less than our actual loss, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, has considerable influence over important corporate matters. Our dual-class voting structure will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any change of control transactions that holders of our Class A ordinary shares and ADSs may view as beneficial.
Our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, has considerable influence over important corporate matters. As of the date of this prospectus, Mr. Liu (i) beneficially owns 18.8% of the aggregate voting power of our company through Max Smart Limited, a company wholly owned by Mr. Liu, and (ii) is deemed to beneficially own an additional 32.8% of the aggregate voting power of our company, as certain holders of our ordinary shares have granted the voting rights associated with their ordinary shares to Mr. Liu as their exclusive proxy and attorney-in-fact. In addition, Mr. Liu is the sole shareholder and the sole director of Fortune Rising Holdings Limited. Fortune Rising Holdings Limited holds 106,850,910 ordinary shares, representing 4.3% of the aggregate voting power of our company, for the purpose of transferring such shares to the plan participants according to our awards under our Original Plans, which were replaced by the 2013 Plan, and administers the awards and acts according to our instruction. Fortune Rising Holdings Limited exercises this 4.3% of the aggregate voting power of our company following our instruction. Mr. Liu, as the representative of Fortune Rising Holdings Limited, can exercise this 4.3% of the aggregate voting power of our company on behalf of Fortune Rising Holdings Limited. See "Principal and Selling Shareholders."
After this offering, Mr. Liu will continue to have considerable influence over matters requiring shareholder approval, subject to certain exceptions. Immediately prior to the completion of this offering, we expect to create a dual-class voting structure such that our ordinary shares will consist of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Based on our proposed dual-class voting structure, holders of Class A ordinary shares will be entitled to one vote per share in respect of matters requiring the votes of shareholders, while holders of Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to twenty votes per share, subject to certain exceptions. We will issue Class A ordinary shares represented by our ADSs in this offering. Immediately prior to the completion of this offering, we expect that an aggregate of 570,196,259 ordinary shares held by Max Smart Limited and Fortune Rising Holdings Limited (including the 93,780,970 ordinary shares we will issue to Max Smart Limited immediately after the listing of our ADSs on NASDAQ, pursuant to the 93,780,970 restricted share units that were granted to Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu in March 2014 under our 2013 Plan and became fully vested immediately upon grant) will be automatically re-designated as Class B ordinary shares on a 1-for-1 basis, and all preferred shares and all other outstanding ordinary shares will be re-designated as Class A ordinary shares on a 1-for-1 basis. Each Class B ordinary share is convertible into one Class A ordinary share at any time by the holder thereof, while Class A ordinary shares are not convertible into Class B ordinary shares under any circumstances. Upon any transfer of Class B ordinary shares by a holder thereof to any person or entity which is not an affiliate of such holder, such Class B ordinary shares shall be automatically and immediately converted into the equal number of Class A ordinary shares. Due to the disparate voting powers associated with our two classes of ordinary shares, Mr. Liu will beneficially own 83.7% of the aggregate voting power of our company, including the 16.1% of the aggregate voting
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power of our company that he may exercise on behalf of Fortune Rising Holdings Limited, immediately following the completion of this offering, assuming (i) the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option to purchase additional ADSs and (ii) we issue and sell 138,014,720 Class A ordinary shares in the private placement to Huang River Investment Limited concurrently with this offering. As a result, Mr. Liu will have considerable influence over matters such as electing directors and approving material mergers, acquisitions or other business combination transactions. In addition, under the new memorandum and articles of association that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, our board of directors will not be able to form a quorum without Mr. Liu for so long as Mr. Liu remains a director. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could also discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transactions, which could have the effect of depriving the holders of our Class A ordinary shares and our ADSs of the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over the prevailing market price.
We may be the subject of anti-competitive, harassing, or other detrimental conduct by third parties including complaints to regulatory agencies, negative blog postings, and the public dissemination of malicious assessments of our business that could harm our reputation and cause us to lose market share, customers and revenues and adversely affect the price of our ADSs.
In the future we may be the target of anti-competitive, harassing, or other detrimental conduct by third parties. Such conduct includes complaints, anonymous or otherwise, to regulatory agencies. We may be subject to government or regulatory investigation as a result of such third-party conduct and may be required to expend significant time and incur substantial costs to address such third-party conduct, and there is no assurance that we will be able to conclusively refute each of the allegations within a reasonable period of time, or at all. Additionally, allegations, directly or indirectly against us, may be posted in internet chat-rooms or on blogs or websites by anyone, whether or not related to us, on an anonymous basis. Consumers value readily available information concerning retailers, manufacturers, and their goods and services and often act on such information without further investigation or authentication and without regard to its accuracy. The availability of information on social media platforms and devices is virtually immediate, as is its impact. Social media platforms and devices immediately publish the content their subscribers and participants post, often without filters or checks on the accuracy of the content posted. Information posted may be inaccurate and adverse to us, and it may harm our financial performance, prospects or business. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. Our reputation may be negatively affected as a result of the public dissemination of anonymous allegations or malicious statements about our business, which in turn may cause us to lose market share, customers and revenues and adversely affect the price of our ADSs.
We face risks related to natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters or the outbreak of avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, influenza A (H1N1) or another epidemic. Any such occurrences could cause severe disruption to our daily operations, including our fulfillment infrastructure and our customer service center, and may even require a temporary closure of our facilities. On May 12, 2008, a severe earthquake hit part of Sichuan province in southwestern China, and on April 14, 2010, another severe earthquake hit part of Qinghai province in western China, each of which resulted in significant casualties and property damage. While we did not suffer any loss or experience any significant increase in cost resulting from these earthquakes, if a similar disaster were to occur in the future affecting Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Shenyang or Xi'an, or any other city where we have major operations in China, our operations could be materially and adversely affected due to loss of personnel and damages to property, including our inventory and our technology systems. Our operation could also be severely disrupted if our suppliers, customers or business partners were affected by such natural disasters or health epidemics.
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Our auditor, like other independent registered public accounting firms operating in China, is not permitted to be subject to inspection by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and, as such, investors may be deprived of the benefits of such inspection.
Our independent registered public accounting firm that issued the audit reports included in this prospectus filed with the SEC, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB, is required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspections by the PCAOB to assess its compliance with the laws of the United States and professional standards. Because our auditor is located in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the PRC authorities, our auditor, like other independent registered public accounting firms operating in China, is currently not inspected by the PCAOB.
Inspections of other firms that the PCAOB has conducted outside of China have identified deficiencies in those firms' audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of independent registered public accounting firms operating in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditor's audit procedures or quality control procedures. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of PCAOB inspections and lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements.
We may be adversely affected by the outcome of the administrative proceedings brought by the SEC against the Big 4 PRC-based accounting firms.
In December 2012, the SEC brought administrative proceedings against the Big 4 accounting firms in China, including our independent registered public accounting firm, alleging that these accounting firms had violated U.S. securities laws and the SEC's rules and regulations thereunder by failing to provide to the SEC the firms' audit papers and other documents related to certain PRC-based companies that are publicly traded in the United States.
On January 22, 2014, the Administrative Law Judge presiding over the matter reached an initial decision that the firms had each violated the SEC's rules of practice by failing to produce the audit work papers and related documents directly to the SEC. The initial decision further determined that each of the firms should be censured and barred from practicing before the SEC for a period of six months. The Big 4 PRC-based accounting firms recently appealed the initial administrative law decision to the SEC. The initial administrative law decision will not become effective until and unless it is endorsed by the Commissioners of the SEC. If the SEC's final decision is decided against the accounting firms, the accounting firms can then further appeal the final decision in the federal appellate courts.
While we cannot predict the outcome of the SEC's review, nor that of any subsequent appeal process, if the Big 4 PRC-based accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, are ultimately temporarily barred from practicing before the SEC, we may not be able to meet the reporting requirements under the Exchange Act following the listing of our ADSs in the U.S., which may ultimately result in our deregistration by the SEC and delisting from NASDAQ, in which case our market capitalization may decline sharply and the value of your investment in our ADSs may be significantly reduced.
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Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure
If the PRC government deems that the contractual arrangements in relation to Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou do not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.
Foreign ownership of e-commerce and related businesses, including online retail businesses, is subject to restrictions under current PRC laws and regulations. For example, foreign investors are not allowed to own more than 50% of the equity interests in a value-added telecommunication service provider and any such foreign investor must have experience in providing value-added telecommunications services overseas and maintain a good track record, and foreign investors may engage in the distribution of audio and video products in China only in the form of contractual joint ventures between foreign and Chinese investors in accordance with the Guidance Catalogue of Industries for Foreign Investment promulgated in 2011.
We are a Cayman Islands company and our PRC subsidiaries Jingdong Century, Star East, Jingbangda and Shanghai Shengdayuan are considered foreign-invested enterprises. Accordingly, none of these PRC subsidiaries is eligible to provide value-added telecommunication services or sell audio and video products in China. As a result, we conduct such business activities through two affiliated PRC entities, Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou. Jingdong 360 holds our ICP license as an internet information provider, while Jiangsu Yuanzhou primarily conducts the sale of books and audio and video products. Both Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou are 45% owned by Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, and 55% owned by Mr. Jiaming Sun, our employee. Mr. Liu and Mr. Sun are both PRC citizens. We entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou and their respective shareholders, which enable us to:
Because of these contractual arrangements, we are the primary beneficiary of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou and hence consolidate their financial results as our variable interest entities. For a detailed discussion of these contractual arrangements, see "Corporate History and Structure."
In the opinion of Zhong Lun Law Firm, our PRC legal counsel, (i) the ownership structures of Jingdong Century and our variable interest entities in China, both currently and immediately after giving effect to this offering, comply with all existing PRC laws and regulations; and (ii) the contractual arrangements between Jingdong Century, our variable interest entities and their respective shareholders governed by PRC law are valid, binding and enforceable, and will not result in any violation of PRC laws or regulations currently in effect. However, our PRC legal counsel has also advised us that there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations and rules; accordingly, the PRC regulatory authorities may take a view that is contrary to the opinion of our PRC legal counsel. It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws or regulations relating to variable interest entity structures will be adopted or if adopted, what they would provide. If we or any of our variable interest entities are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, or fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant PRC regulatory authorities would have broad discretion to take action in dealing with such violations or failures, including:
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The imposition of any of these penalties would result in a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business. In addition, it is unclear what impact the PRC government actions would have on us and on our ability to consolidate the financial results of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou in our consolidated financial statements, if the PRC government authorities were to find our legal structure and contractual arrangements to be in violation of PRC laws and regulations. If the imposition of any of these government actions causes us to lose our right to direct the activities of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou or our right to receive substantially all the economic benefits and residual returns from Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou and we are not able to restructure our ownership structure and operations in a satisfactory manner, we would no longer be able to consolidate the financial results of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou in our consolidated financial statements. Either of these results, or any other significant penalties that might be imposed on us in this event, would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on contractual arrangements with our variable interest entities and their shareholders for a portion of our business operations, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control.
We have relied and expect to continue to rely on contractual arrangements with Jingdong 360 and its shareholders to hold our ICP license as an internet information provider, and contractual arrangements with Jiangsu Yuanzhou and its shareholders to conduct the sale of books and audio and video products. Jingdong 360 has an indirect wholly owned subsidiary that holds our online payment license and provides online payment and settlement services. For a description of these contractual arrangements, see "Corporate History and Structure." These contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over our variable interest entities.
If we had direct ownership of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou, we would be able to exercise our rights as a shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou, which in turn could effect changes, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations, at the management level. However, under the current contractual arrangements, we rely on the performance by our variable interest entities and their respective shareholders of their obligations under the contracts to exercise control over our variable interest entities. However, the shareholders of our variable interest entities may not act in the best interests of our company or may not perform their obligations under these contracts. Such risks exist throughout the period in which we intend to operate our business through the contractual arrangements with our variable interest entities. We may replace the shareholders of our variable interest entities at any time pursuant to our contractual arrangements with them and their shareholders. However, if any dispute relating to these contracts remains unresolved, we will have to enforce our rights under these contracts through the operations of PRC law and courts and therefore will be subject to uncertainties in the PRC legal system. See "Any failure by our variable interest entities or their shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material and adverse effect on our business." Therefore, our
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contractual arrangements with our variable interest entities may not be as effective in ensuring our control over the relevant portion of our business operations as direct ownership would be.
Any failure by our variable interest entities or their shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material and adverse effect on our business.
If our variable interest entities or their shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements. We may also have to rely on legal remedies under PRC law, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and claiming damages, which we cannot assure you will be effective. For example, if the shareholders of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou were to refuse to transfer their equity interest in Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou to us or our designee when we exercise the purchase option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if they were otherwise to act in bad faith toward us, we may have to take legal actions to compel them to perform their contractual obligations.
All the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal system in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. See "Risks Related to Doing Business in ChinaUncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us." Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC law, and as a result it may be difficult to predict how an arbitration panel would view such contractual arrangements. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Additionally, under PRC law, rulings by arbitrators are final, parties cannot appeal the arbitration results in courts, and if the losing parties fail to carry out the arbitration awards within a prescribed time limit, the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay.
Our variable interest entities hold our ICP license and online payment license and conduct our sales of books and audio and video products (including publication of e-books and online audio and video products) as well as online payment service. In the event we are unable to enforce our contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our variable interest entities, and our ability to conduct these businesses may be negatively affected. We generate substantially all of our revenues from products and services that are offered to customers through our website and mobile applications and any interruption in our ability to use our website and mobile applications may have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
The shareholders of our variable interest entities may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu and Mr. Jiaming Sun are the shareholders of each of our variable interest entities, Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou. Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu is our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, while Mr. Jiaming Sun is an employee of ours. The shareholders of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou may have potential conflicts of interest with us. These shareholders may breach, or cause our variable interest entities to breach, or refuse to renew, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and our variable interest entities, which would have a material and adverse effect on our ability to effectively control our variable interest entities and receive substantially all the economic benefits from them. For example, the shareholders may be able to cause our agreements with Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou to be performed in a manner adverse
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to us by, among other things, failing to remit payments due under the contractual arrangements to us on a timely basis. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise, any or all of these shareholders will act in the best interests of our company or such conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
Currently, we do not have any arrangements to address potential conflicts of interest between these shareholders and our company. Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu is also a director and executive officer of our company. We rely on Mr. Liu to abide by the laws of the Cayman Islands and China, which provide that directors owe a fiduciary duty to the company that requires them to act in good faith and in what they believe to be the best interests of the company and not to use their position for personal gains. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and the shareholders of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which could result in disruption of our business and subject us to substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.
We may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business.
We are a holding company, and we may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries like Jingdong Century for our cash and financing requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our shareholders and service any debt we may incur. If these subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may require Jingdong Century to adjust its taxable income under the contractual arrangements it currently has in place with our variable interest entities in a manner that would materially and adversely affect its ability to pay dividends and other distributions to us. See "Contractual arrangements in relation to our variable interest entities may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and they may determine that we or our PRC variable interest entities owe additional taxes, which could negatively affected our financial condition and the value of your investment."
Under PRC laws and regulations, our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China may pay dividends only out of their respective accumulated profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise is required to set aside at least 10% of its accumulated after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund certain statutory reserve fund, until the aggregate amount of such fund reaches 50% of its registered capital. At its discretion, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise may allocate a portion of its after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards to enterprise expansion fund and staff welfare and bonus fund. The statutory reserve fund, enterprise expansion fund and staff welfare and bonus fund are not distributable as cash dividends.
Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other distributions to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business. See also "Risks Related to Doing Business in ChinaIf we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise for PRC income tax purposes, such classification could result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders or ADS holders."
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PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using the proceeds of this offering to make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities or make additional capital contributions to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.
We are an offshore holding company conducting our operations in China through our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities. We may make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities subject to the approval from governmental authorities and limitation of amount, or we may make additional capital contributions to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China.
Any loans to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China, which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC law, are subject to PRC regulations and foreign exchange loan registrations. For example, loans by us to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with the local counterpart of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE. The statutory limit for the total amount of foreign debts of a foreign-invested company is the difference between the amount of total investment as approved by the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterpart and the amount of registered capital of such foreign-invested company. For example, the current amounts of approved total investment and registered capital of Jingdong Century are approximately US$850 million and US$590 million, respectively, which means Jingdong Century cannot obtain loans in excess of US$260 million from our entities outside of China currently. The current statutory limit on the loans to our other wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China, namely, Star East, Jingbangda and Shanghai Shengdayuan, is RMB1,800 million (US$294 million), RMB2,000 million (US$327 million) and US$49 million, respectively.
We may also decide to finance our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China by means of capital contributions. These capital contributions must be approved by the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterpart. In addition, SAFE issued a circular in September 2008, SAFE Circular No. 142, regulating the conversion by a foreign-invested enterprise of foreign currency registered capital into RMB by restricting how the converted RMB may be used. SAFE Circular No. 142 provides that the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested enterprise may only be used for purposes within the business scope approved by the applicable government authority and may not be used for equity investments within the PRC. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested company. The use of such RMB capital may not be altered without SAFE's approval, and such RMB capital may not in any case be used to repay RMB loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been used. Violations of SAFE Circular No. 142 could result in severe monetary or other penalties. Furthermore, SAFE promulgated a circular in November 2010, SAFE Circular No. 59, which tightens the regulations over settlement of net proceeds from overseas offerings like this offering and requires that the settlement of net proceeds must be consistent with the description in the prospectus for the offering. These two circulars may significantly limit our ability to transfer the net proceeds from this offering to our consolidated variable interest entities and the subsidiaries of our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China, and we may not be able to convert the net proceeds into RMB to invest in or acquire any other PRC companies, or establish other variable interest entities in China.
Due to the restrictions imposed on loans in foreign currencies extended to any PRC domestic companies, we are not likely to make such loans to the subsidiaries of our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China and our consolidated variable interest entities, each a PRC domestic company. Meanwhile, we are not likely to finance the activities of our consolidated variable interest entities by means of capital contributions given the restrictions on foreign investment in the businesses that currently conducted by our consolidated variable interest entities.
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In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations on loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies, including SAFE Circular No. 142, SAFE Circular No. 59 and other relevant rules and regulations, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary government registrations or obtain the necessary government approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans to our PRC subsidiaries or any consolidated variable interest entity or future capital contributions by us to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China. As a result, uncertainties exist as to our ability to provide prompt financial support to our PRC subsidiaries or consolidated variable interest entities when needed. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use the proceeds we expect to receive from this offering and to capitalize or otherwise fund our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.
Contractual arrangements in relation to our variable interest entities may be subject to scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities and they may determine that we or our PRC variable interest entities owe additional taxes, which could negatively affected our financial condition and the value of your investment.
Under applicable PRC laws and regulations, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the PRC tax authorities. We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that the contractual arrangements between Jingdong Century, our wholly owned subsidiary in China, Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou, our variable interest entities in China, and their respective shareholders were not entered into on an arm's-length basis in such a way as to result in an impermissible reduction in taxes under applicable PRC laws, rules and regulations, and adjust Jingdong 360's and Jiangsu Yuanzhou's income in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. A transfer pricing adjustment could, among other things, result in a reduction of expense deductions recorded by Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou for PRC tax purposes, which could in turn increase their tax liabilities. In addition, the PRC tax authorities may impose punitive interest on Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou for the adjusted but unpaid taxes at the rate of 5% over the basic RMB lending rate published by the People's Bank of China for a period according to the applicable regulations. Our financial position could be materially and adversely affected if our variable interest entities' tax liabilities increase or if they are required to pay punitive interest.
Risks Related to Doing Business in China
Changes in China's economic, political or social conditions or government policies could have a material and adverse effect on our business and operations.
Substantially all of our operations are located in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be influenced to a significant degree by political, economic and social conditions in China generally and by continued economic growth in China as a whole.
The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. Although the Chinese government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets, and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the government. In addition, the Chinese government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The Chinese government also exercises significant control over China's economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy, and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.
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While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The Chinese government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations. In addition, in the past the Chinese government has implemented certain measures, including interest rate increases, to control the pace of economic growth. These measures may cause decreased economic activity in China, which may adversely affect our business and operating results.
Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us.
We conduct our business primarily through our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities in China. Our operations in China are governed by PRC laws and regulations. Our PRC subsidiaries are subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investment in China. The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Unlike the common law system, prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value.
In 1979, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general. The overall effect of legislation over the past three decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in China. However, China has not developed a fully integrated legal system, and recently enacted laws and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in China. In particular, because these laws and regulations are relatively new, and because of the limited number of published decisions and their nonbinding nature, the interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve uncertainties. In addition, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which are not published on a timely basis or at all, and which may have a retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until some time after the violation.
Any administrative and court proceedings in China may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention. Since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy than in more developed legal systems. These uncertainties may impede our ability to enforce the contracts we have entered into and could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We are subject to consumer protection laws that could require us to modify our current business practices and incur increased costs.
We are subject to numerous PRC laws and regulations that regulate retailers generally or govern online retailers specifically, such as the Consumer Protection Law. If these regulations were to change or if we, suppliers or third-party sellers on our marketplace were to violate them, the costs of certain products or services could increase, or we could be subject to fines or penalties or suffer reputational harm, which could reduce demand for the products or services offered on our website and hurt our business and results of operations. For example, the recently amended Consumer Protection Law, which became effective in March 2014, further strengthens the protection of consumers and imposes more stringent requirements and obligations on business operators, especially on businesses that operate on the internet. Pursuant to the Consumer Protection Law, consumers are generally entitled to return goods purchased within seven days upon receipt without giving any reasons if they purchased the goods over the internet. Consumers whose interests have been damaged due to their purchase of goods or acceptance of services on online marketplace platforms may claim damages from
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sellers or service providers. Where the operators of an online marketplace platform are unable to provide the real names, addresses and valid contact details of the sellers or service providers, the consumers may also claim damages from the operators of the online marketplace platforms. Operators of online marketplace platforms that know or should have known that sellers or service providers use their platforms to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers but fail to take necessary measures must bear joint and several liability with the sellers or service providers. Moreover, if business operators deceive consumers or knowingly sell substandard or defective products, they should not only compensate consumers for their losses, but also pay additional damages equal to three times the price of the goods or services. Legal requirements are frequently changed and subject to interpretation, and we are unable to predict the ultimate cost of compliance with these requirements or their effect on our operations. We may be required to make significant expenditures or modify our business practices to comply with existing or future laws and regulations, which may increase our costs and materially limit our ability to operate our business.
We may be adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC regulation of internet-related business and companies.
The PRC government extensively regulates the internet industry, including foreign ownership of, and the licensing and permit requirements pertaining to, companies in the internet industry. These internet related laws and regulations are relatively new and evolving, and their interpretation and enforcement involve significant uncertainties. As a result, in certain circumstances it may be difficult to determine what actions or omissions may be deemed to be in violation of applicable laws and regulations. Issues, risks and uncertainties relating to PRC government regulation of the internet industry include, but are not limited to, the following:
We only have control over our website through contractual arrangements. We do not own the website in China due to the restriction of foreign investment in businesses providing value-added telecommunication services in China, including internet information provision services. This may significantly disrupt our business, subject us to sanctions, compromise enforceability of related contractual arrangements, or have other harmful effects on us.
The evolving PRC regulatory system for the internet industry may lead to the establishment of new regulatory agencies. For example, in May 2011, the State Council announced the establishment of a new department, the State Internet Information Office (with the involvement of the State Council Information Office, the MIIT, and the Ministry of Public Security). The primary role of this new agency is to facilitate the policy-making and legislative development in this field to direct and coordinate with the relevant departments in connection with online content administration and to deal with cross-ministry regulatory matters in relation to the internet industry.
New laws and regulations may be promulgated that will regulate internet activities, including online retail. If these new laws and regulations are promulgated, additional licenses may be required for our operations. If our operations do not comply with these new regulations at the time they become effective, or if we fail to obtain any licenses required under these new laws and regulations, we could be subject to penalties.
The Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in and Operation of Value-added Telecommunications Business, issued by the MIIT in July 2006, prohibits domestic telecommunication service providers from leasing, transferring or selling telecommunications business operating licenses to any foreign investor in any form, or providing any resources, sites or facilities to any foreign investor for their illegal operation of a telecommunications business in China. According to this circular, either the holder of a value-added telecommunication services operation permit or its shareholders must directly own the domain names and trademarks used by such license holders in their provision of value-added telecommunication services. The circular also requires each license holder to have the necessary facilities, including servers, for its approved business operations and to maintain
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such facilities in the regions covered by its license. If an ICP license holder fails to comply with the requirements and also fails to remedy such non-compliance within a specified period of time, the MIIT or its local counterparts have the discretion to take administrative measures against such license holder, including revoking its ICP license. Currently, Jingdong 360, our PRC consolidated variable interest entity, holds an ICP license and operates our website. Jingdong 360 owns the relevant domain names and registered trademarks and has the necessary personnel to operate such website.
The interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies and possible new laws, regulations or policies relating to the internet industry have created substantial uncertainties regarding the legality of existing and future foreign investments in, and the businesses and activities of, internet businesses in China, including our business. We cannot assure you that we have obtained all the permits or licenses required for conducting our business in China or will be able to maintain our existing licenses or obtain new ones.
Failure to make adequate contributions to various employee benefit plans as required by PRC regulations may subject us to penalties.
Companies operating in China are required to participate in various government sponsored employee benefit plans, including certain social insurance, housing funds and other welfare-oriented payment obligations, and contribute to the plans in amounts equal to certain percentages of salaries, including bonuses and allowances, of our employees up to a maximum amount specified by the local government from time to time at locations where we operate our businesses. The requirement of employee benefit plans has not been implemented consistently by the local governments in China given the different levels of economic development in different locations. Our PRC operating entities incorporated in various locations in China have not made adequate employee benefit payments and we have recorded accruals for estimated underpaid amounts in our financial statements. We may be required to make up the contributions for these plans as well as to pay late fees and fines. If we are subject to late fees or fines in relation to the underpaid employee benefits, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
We may be required to register our operating offices outside of our residence addresses as branch offices under PRC law.
Under PRC law, a company setting up premises for business operations outside its residence address must register them as branch offices with the relevant local industry and commerce bureau at the place where the premises are located and obtain business licenses for them as branch offices. We had 1,620 delivery stations and 214 pickup stations in 495 cities across China as of March 31, 2014. We seek to register branch offices in all the cities where we have delivery stations and pickup stations. However, as of the date of this prospectus, we have not been able to register branch offices in all of these cities. Furthermore, we may expand our fulfillment network in the future to additional locations in China, and we may not be able to register branch offices in a timely manner due to complex procedural requirements and relocation of branch offices from time to time. If the PRC regulatory authorities determine that we are in violation of the relevant laws and regulations, we may be subject to penalties, including fines, confiscation of income and suspension of operation. If we become subject to these penalties, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
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Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the internet in China may adversely affect our business, and we may be liable for content that is displayed on our website.
China has enacted laws and regulations governing internet access and the distribution of products, services, news, information, audio-video programs and other content through the internet. In the past, the PRC government has prohibited the distribution of information through the internet that it deems to be in violation of PRC laws and regulations. If any of our internet information were deemed by the PRC government to violate any content restrictions, we would not be able to continue to display such content and could become subject to penalties, including confiscation of income, fines, suspension of business and revocation of required licenses, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may also be subject to potential liability for any unlawful actions of our customers or users of our website or for content we distribute that is deemed inappropriate. It may be difficult to determine the type of content that may result in liability to us, and if we are found to be liable, we may be prevented from operating our website in China.
Fluctuations in exchange rates could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment.
The value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar and other currencies is affected by changes in China's political and economic conditions and China's foreign exchange policies, among other things. On July 21, 2005, the PRC government changed its decades-old policy of pegging the value of the RMB to the U.S. dollar, and the RMB appreciated more than 20% against the U.S. dollar over the following three years. Between July 2008 and June 2010, this appreciation halted and the exchange rate between the RMB and the U.S. dollar remained within a narrow band. The PRC government has allowed the RMB to appreciate slowly against the U.S. dollar again, and it has appreciated more than 10% since June 2010, though there also have been periods when it has lost value against the U.S. dollar. It is difficult to predict how market forces or PRC or U.S. government policy may impact the exchange rate between the RMB and the U.S. dollar in the future. In addition, there remains significant international pressure on the PRC government to adopt a substantial liberalization of its currency policy, which could result in further appreciation in the value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar.
Significant revaluation of the RMB may have a material and adverse effect on your investment. For example, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars we receive from this initial public offering into RMB for our operations, appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the RMB amount we would receive from the conversion. Conversely, if we decide to convert our RMB into U.S. dollars for the purpose of making payments for dividends on our ordinary shares or ADSs or for other business purposes, appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the RMB would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount available to us. In addition, appreciation or depreciation in the value of the RMB relative to U.S. dollars would affect our financial results reported in U.S. dollar terms regardless of any underlying change in our business or results of operations.
Very limited hedging options are available in China to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedges may be limited and we may not be able to adequately hedge our exposure or at all. In addition, our currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert RMB into foreign currency.
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Governmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment.
The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the RMB into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our revenues in RMB. Under our current corporate structure, our company in the Cayman Islands may rely on dividend payments from our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, such as profit distributions and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval from SAFE by complying with certain procedural requirements. Therefore, our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China are able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to us without prior approval from SAFE, subject to the condition that the remittance of such dividends outside of the PRC complies with certain procedures under PRC foreign exchange regulation, such as the overseas investment registrations by our shareholders or the ultimate shareholders of our corporate shareholders who are PRC residents. But approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where RMB is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. The PRC government may also at its discretion restrict access in the future to foreign currencies for current account transactions. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy our foreign currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our ADSs.
The approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission may be required in connection with this offering under a regulation adopted in August 2006, and, if required, we cannot predict whether we will be able to obtain such approval.
The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in 2006 and amended in 2009, requires an overseas special purpose vehicle formed for listing purposes through acquisitions of PRC domestic companies and controlled by PRC companies or individuals to obtain the approval of the CSRC prior to the listing and trading of such special purpose vehicle's securities on an overseas stock exchange. In September 2006, the CSRC published a notice on its official website specifying documents and materials required to be submitted to it by a special purpose vehicle seeking CSRC approval of its overseas listings. The application of the M&A Rules remains unclear. Currently, there is no consensus among leading PRC law firms regarding the scope and applicability of the CSRC approval requirement.
Our PRC counsel, Zhong Lun Law Firm, has advised us based on their understanding of the current PRC laws, rules and regulations that the CSRC's approval is not required for the listing and trading of our ADSs on NASDAQ in the context of this offering, given that:
However, our PRC legal counsel has further advised us that there remains some uncertainty as to how the M&A Rules will be interpreted or implemented in the context of an overseas offering and its opinions summarized above are subject to any new laws, rules and regulations or detailed implementations and interpretations in any form relating to the M&A Rules. We cannot assure you
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that relevant PRC government agencies, including the CSRC, would reach the same conclusion as we do. If it is determined that CSRC approval is required for this offering, we may face sanctions by the CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies for failure to seek CSRC approval for this offering. These sanctions may include fines and penalties on our operations in the PRC, limitations on our operating privileges in the PRC, delays in or restrictions on the repatriation of the proceeds from this offering into the PRC, restrictions on or prohibition of the payments or remittance of dividends by our China subsidiary, or other actions that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our ADSs. The CSRC or other PRC regulatory agencies may also take actions requiring us, or making it advisable for us, to halt this offering before the settlement and delivery of the ADSs that we are offering. Consequently, if you engage in market trading or other activities in anticipation of and prior to the settlement and delivery of the ADSs we are offering, you would be doing so at the risk that the settlement and delivery may not occur.
The M&A Rules and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.
The M&A Rules discussed in the preceding risk factor and recently adopted regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time consuming and complex. For example, the M&A Rules require that the Ministry of Commerce be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise, if (i) any important industry is concerned, (ii) such transaction involves factors that have or may have impact on the national economic security, or (iii) such transaction will lead to a change in control of a domestic enterprise which holds a famous trademark or PRC time-honored brand. Mergers, acquisitions or contractual arrangements that allow one market player to take control of or to exert decisive impact on another market player must also be notified in advance to the Ministry of Commerce when the threshold under the Provisions on Thresholds for Prior Notification of Concentrations of Undertakings, or the Prior Notification Rules, issued by the State Council in August 2008 is triggered. In addition, the security review rules issued by the Ministry of Commerce that became effective in September 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise "national defense and security" concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise "national security" concerns are subject to strict review by the Ministry of Commerce, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. In the future, we may grow our business by acquiring complementary businesses. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions could be time consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterparts may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions. It is unclear whether our business would be deemed to be in an industry that raises "national defense and security" or "national security" concerns. However, the Ministry of Commerce or other government agencies may publish explanations in the future determining that our business is in an industry subject to the security review, in which case our future acquisitions in the PRC, including those by way of entering into contractual control arrangements with target entities, may be closely scrutinized or prohibited. Our ability to expand our business or maintain or expand our market share through future acquisitions would as such be materially and adversely affected.
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PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident beneficial owners or our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China to liability or penalties, limit our ability to inject capital into these subsidiaries, limit these subsidiaries' ability to increase their registered capital or distribute profits to us, or may otherwise adversely affect us.
The Notice on Issues Relating to the Administration of Foreign Exchange in Fund-Raising and Round-Trip Investment Activities of Domestic Residents Conducted via Offshore Special Purpose Companies, or SAFE Circular No. 75, requires PRC residents to register with the relevant local branch of SAFE before establishing or controlling any company outside of China, referred to as an offshore special purpose company, for the purpose of raising funds from overseas to acquire or exchange the assets of, or acquiring equity interests in, PRC entities held by such PRC residents and to update such registration in the event of any significant changes with respect to that offshore company. If these shareholders fail to comply, the PRC subsidiaries are required to report to the local SAFE branches. If the shareholders of the offshore holding company who are PRC residents do not complete their registration with the local SAFE branches, the PRC subsidiaries may be prohibited from distributing their profits and proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to the offshore company, and the offshore company may be restricted in its ability to contribute additional capital to its PRC subsidiaries. Moreover, failure to comply with SAFE registration and amendment requirements described above could result in liability under PRC law for evasion of applicable foreign exchange restrictions.
We have requested PRC residents who we know hold direct or indirect interest in our company to make the necessary applications, filings and amendments as required under SAFE Circular No. 75 and other related rules. Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, our founder and shareholder, has completed required registrations with SAFE in relation to our financing and restructuring and will make amendments when needed and required in accordance with SAFE Circular No. 75. However, we may not be informed of the identities of all the PRC residents holding direct or indirect interest in our company, and we cannot provide any assurance that these PRC residents will comply with our request to make or obtain any applicable registrations or comply with other requirements under SAFE Circular No. 75 or other related rules. The failure or inability of our PRC resident shareholders to comply with the registration procedures set forth in these regulations may subject us to fines and legal sanctions, restrict our cross-border investment activities, limit the ability of our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China to distribute dividends and the proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to us, and we may also be prohibited from injecting additional capital into these subsidiaries. Moreover, failure to comply with the various foreign exchange registration requirements described above could result in liability under PRC law for circumventing applicable foreign exchange restrictions. As a result, our business operations and our ability to distribute profits to you could be materially and adversely affected.
Any failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee stock incentive plans may subject the PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.
Pursuant to the Notice on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Publicly Listed Company, issued by SAFE in February 2012, employees, directors, supervisors and other senior management participating in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company who are PRC citizens or who are non-PRC citizens residing in China for a continuous period of not less than one year, subject to a few exceptions, are required to register with SAFE through a domestic qualified agent, which could be a PRC subsidiary of such overseas listed company, and complete certain other procedures. We and our directors, executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who reside in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year and who have been granted restricted shares,
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restricted share units or options will be subject to these regulations when our company becomes an overseas listed company upon the completion of this offering. Failure to complete the SAFE registrations may subject them to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China and limit these subsidiaries' ability to distribute dividends to us. We also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional incentive plans for our directors and employees under PRC law.
In addition, the State Administration for Taxation has issued certain circulars concerning employee share options or restricted shares. Under these circulars, the employees working in the PRC who exercise share options or are granted restricted shares will be subject to PRC individual income tax. The PRC subsidiaries of such overseas listed company have obligations to file documents related to employee share options or restricted shares with relevant tax authorities and to withhold individual income taxes of those employees who exercise their share options. If the employees fail to pay or the PRC subsidiaries fail to withhold their income taxes according to relevant laws and regulations, the PRC subsidiaries may face sanctions imposed by the tax authorities or other PRC government authorities.
Our business benefits from certain financial incentives and discretionary policies granted by local governments. Expiration of, or changes to, these incentives or policies would have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
In the past three years, local governments in China granted certain financial incentives from time to time to our PRC subsidiaries or consolidated variable interest entities as part of their efforts to encourage the development of local businesses. We received approximately RMB26 million, RMB42 million and RMB120 million (US$20 million) in financial incentives from local governments relating to our business operations in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. The timing, amount and criteria of government financial incentives are determined within the sole discretion of the local government authorities and cannot be predicted with certainty before we actually receive any financial incentive. We generally do not have the ability to influence local governments in making these decisions. Local governments may decide to reduce or eliminate incentives at any time. We cannot assure you of the continued availability of the government incentives currently enjoyed by our PRC subsidiaries or consolidated variable interest entities. Any reduction or elimination of incentives would have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
If we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise for PRC income tax purposes, such classification could result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders or ADS holders.
Under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with "de facto management body" within the PRC is considered a resident enterprise and will be subject to the enterprise income tax on its global income at the rate of 25%. The implementation rules define the term "de facto management body" as the body that exercises full and substantial control and overall management over the business, productions, personnel, accounts and properties of an enterprise. On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation issued a circular, known as Circular 82, which provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the "de facto management body" of a PRC-controlled enterprise that is incorporated offshore is located in China. Although this circular only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups, not those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners, the criteria set forth in the circular may reflect the State Administration of Taxation's general position on how the "de facto management body" text should be applied in determining the tax resident status of all offshore enterprises. According to Circular 82, an offshore incorporated enterprise controlled by a PRC enterprise or a PRC enterprise group will be regarded as a PRC tax resident by virtue of having its "de facto management body" in China and will be subject to PRC enterprise income tax on its
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global income only if all of the following conditions are met: (i) the primary location of the day-to-day operational management is in the PRC; (ii) decisions relating to the enterprise's financial and human resource matters are made or are subject to approval by organizations or personnel in the PRC; (iii) the enterprise's primary assets, accounting books and records, company seals, and board and shareholder resolutions, are located or maintained in the PRC; and (iv) at least 50% of voting board members or senior executives habitually reside in the PRC.
We believe that none of JD.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes. See "TaxationPeople's Republic of China Taxation." However, the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term "de facto management body." If the PRC tax authorities determine that JD.com, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes, they would be subject to a 25% enterprise income tax on their global income. If these entities derive income other than dividends from their wholly owned subsidiaries in the PRC, a 25% enterprise income tax on their global income may increase our tax burden. If JD.com, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries outside of China is classified as a PRC resident enterprise, dividends paid to it from its wholly owned subsidiaries in China may be regarded as tax-exempted income if such dividends are deemed to be "dividends between qualified PRC resident enterprises" under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules. However, we cannot assure you that such dividends will not be subject to PRC withholding tax, as the PRC tax authorities, which enforce the withholding tax, have not yet issued guidance with respect to the processing of outbound remittances to entities that are treated as resident enterprises for PRC income tax purposes.
In addition, if JD.com, Inc. is classified as a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes, we may be required to withhold a 10% withholding tax from dividends we pay to our shareholders that are non-resident enterprises, including the holders of our ADSs. In addition, non-resident enterprise shareholders (including our ADS holders) may be subject to a 10% PRC withholding tax on gains realized on the sale or other disposition of ADSs or ordinary shares, if such income is treated as sourced from within the PRC. It is unclear whether our non-PRC individual shareholders (including our ADS holders) would be subject to any PRC tax on dividends or gains obtained by such non-PRC individual shareholders in the event we are determined to be a PRC resident enterprise. If any PRC tax were to apply to such dividends or gains, it would generally apply at a rate of 20% unless a reduced rate is available under an applicable tax treaty. However, it is also unclear whether non-PRC shareholders of JD.com, Inc. would be able to claim the benefits of any tax treaties between their country of tax residence and the PRC in the event that JD.com, Inc. is treated as a PRC resident enterprise.
Under the Arrangement Between the PRC and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital, the dividend withholding tax rate may be reduced to 5%, if a Hong Kong resident enterprise is considered a non-PRC tax resident enterprise and holds at least 25% of the equity interests in the PRC enterprise distributing the dividends, subject to approval of the PRC local tax authority. However, if the Hong Kong resident enterprise is not considered to be the beneficial owner of such dividends under applicable PRC tax regulations, such dividends may remain subject to withholding tax at a rate of 10%. In October 2009, the State Administration of Taxation issued a circular, known as Circular 601, which provides guidance on determining whether an enterprise is a "beneficial owner" under China's tax treaties and tax arrangements. Circular 601 provides that, in order to be a beneficial owner, an entity generally must be engaged in substantive business activities, and that a company that is set up for the purpose of avoiding or reducing taxes or transferring or accumulating profits will not be regarded as a beneficial owner and will not qualify for treaty benefits such as preferential dividend withholding tax rates. If our Hong Kong subsidiaries are, in the light of Circular
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601, considered to be a non-beneficial owner for purposes of the tax arrangement mentioned above, any dividends paid to them by our wholly foreign-owned PRC subsidiaries would not qualify for the preferential dividend withholding tax rate of 5%, but rather would be subject to a rate of 10%.
We face uncertainties with respect to the application of the Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Enterprise Income Tax for Share Transfers by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises.
Pursuant to the Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Enterprise Income Tax for Share Transfers by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises, known as SAT Circular 698, issued by the State Administration of Taxation in 2009 with retroactive effect from 2008, and another notice subsequently issued in 2011, where a non-resident enterprise transfers the equity interests of a PRC resident enterprise indirectly by disposing of the equity interests of an overseas holding company, or an Indirect Transfer, and the overseas holding company is located in a tax jurisdiction that: (i) has an effective tax rate, which refers to the effective tax on the gain derived from the disposition of equity interests of the overseas holding company, of less than 12.5% or (ii) does not impose income tax on the gain derived from the disposition of equity interests of the overseas holding company, the non-resident enterprise, being the transferor, must report to the relevant tax authority of the PRC resident enterprise this Indirect Transfer. Using a "substance over form" principle, the PRC tax authority may disregard the existence of the overseas holding company if it lacks a reasonable commercial purpose and was established for the purpose of reducing, avoiding or deferring PRC tax. As a result, gains derived from such Indirect Transfer may be subject to PRC withholding tax at a rate of up to 10%. SAT Circular 698 also provides that, where a non-PRC resident enterprise transfers its equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise to its related parties at a price lower than the fair market value, the relevant tax authority has the power to make a reasonable adjustment to the taxable income of the transaction. In addition, the PRC "resident enterprise" is supposed to provide necessary assistance to support the enforcement of SAT Circular 698.
There is uncertainty as to the application of SAT Circular 698 and its related rules. For example, although the term "Indirect Transfer" is not clearly defined, it is understood that the relevant PRC tax authorities have the authority to request for information over a wide range of foreign entities that have no direct contact with the PRC. Moreover, the tax authority has not yet promulgated any formal provisions or made any formal announcement as to the procedure for reporting an Indirect Transfer to the relevant tax authority. In addition, there are not any formal interpretations concerning how to determine whether a non-resident investor has adopted an abusive arrangement in order to reduce, avoid or defer PRC tax. SAT Circular 698 may be determined by the tax authorities to be applicable to our offshore restructuring transactions where non-resident investors were involved. The PRC tax authorities may pursue our offshore shareholders to conduct a filing regarding the transactions and request our PRC subsidiaries to assist the filing. As a result, we and our non-resident enterprise investors including ADS holders may become at risk of being taxed under SAT Circular 698 and may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with SAT Circular 698 or to establish that we and our non-resident enterprise investors should not be taxed under SAT Circular 698 for our previous and future restructuring or disposal of shares of our company, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations or such non-resident enterprise investors' investments in us.
Risks Related to This Offering
There has been no public market for our shares or ADSs prior to this offering, and you may not be able to resell our ADSs at or above the price you paid, or at all.
Prior to this initial public offering, there has been no public market for our shares or ADSs. We have received approval for listing our ADSs on NASDAQ. Our shares will not be listed on any exchange or quoted for trading on any over-the-counter trading system. If an active trading market for
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our ADSs does not develop after this offering, the market price and liquidity of our ADSs will be materially and adversely affected.
Negotiations with the underwriters will determine the initial public offering price for our ADSs which may bear no relationship to their market price after the initial public offering. We cannot assure you that an active trading market for our ADSs will develop or that the market price of our ADSs will not decline below the initial public offering price.
The trading price of our ADSs may be volatile.
The trading prices of our ADSs is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, like the performance and fluctuation in the market prices or the underperformance or deteriorating financial results of other listed companies based in China. The securities of some of these companies have experienced significant volatility since their initial public offerings, including, in some cases, substantial price declines in the trading prices of their securities. The trading performances of other Chinese companies' securities after their offerings, including internet and e-commerce companies, may affect the attitudes of investors toward Chinese companies listed in the United States, which consequently may impact the trading performance of our ADSs, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, any negative news or perceptions about inadequate corporate governance practices or fraudulent accounting, corporate structure or matters of other Chinese companies may also negatively affect the attitudes of investors towards Chinese companies in general, including us, regardless of whether we have conducted any inappropriate activities. In addition, securities markets may from time to time experience significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to our operating performance, such as the large decline in share prices in the United States, China and other jurisdictions in late 2008, early 2009 and the second half of 2011, which may have a material and adverse effect on the trading price of our ADSs.
In addition to the above factors, the price and trading volume of our ADSs may be highly volatile due to multiple factors, including the following:
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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the market price for our ADSs and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our ADSs will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If research analysts do not establish and maintain adequate research coverage or if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our ADSs or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the market price for our ADSs would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which, in turn, could cause the market price or trading volume for our ADSs to decline.
Because our initial public offering price is substantially higher than our net tangible book value per share, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution.
If you purchase ADSs in this offering, you will pay more for your ADSs than the amount paid by our existing shareholders for their ordinary shares on a per ADS basis. As a result, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution of US$15.84 per ADS, representing the difference between the initial public offering price of US$19.00 per ADS and our net tangible book value per ADS as of December 31, 2013, after giving effect to (i) the share issuance to Huang River Investment Limited on March 10, 2014, (ii) our sale of the ADSs offered in this offering, (iii) the private placement to Huang River Investment Limited concurrently with this offering, and (iv) the ordinary shares we will issue to Max Smart Limited immediately after the listing of our ADSs on NASDAQ. In addition, you may experience further dilution to the extent that our ordinary shares are issued upon the exercise of share options. See "Dilution."
Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future after this offering, you must rely on price appreciation of our ADSs for return on your investment.
We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings after this offering to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Therefore, you should not rely on an investment in our ADSs as a source for any future dividend income.
Our board of directors has complete discretion as to whether to distribute dividends. Even if our board of directors decides to declare and pay dividends, the timing, amount and form of future dividends, if any, will depend on, among other things, our future results of operations and cash flow, our capital requirements and surplus, the amount of distributions, if any, received by us from our subsidiaries, our financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Accordingly, the return on your investment in our ADSs will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our ADSs. There is no guarantee that our ADSs will appreciate in value after this offering or even maintain the price at which you purchased the ADSs. You may not realize a return on your investment in our ADSs and you may even lose your entire investment in our ADSs.
Substantial future sales or perceived potential sales of our ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.
Sales of our ADSs in the public market after this offering, or the perception that these sales could occur, could cause the market price of our ADSs to decline. Upon completion of this offering, we will have 2,734,171,730 ordinary shares outstanding including 187,371,240 Class A ordinary shares
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represented by ADSs, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option. All ADSs sold in this offering will be freely transferable without restriction or additional registration under the Securities Act. The remaining Class A ordinary shares outstanding after this offering and the Class B ordinary shares will be available for sale, upon the expiration of the 180-day lock-up period beginning from the date of this prospectus, subject to volume and other restrictions as applicable under Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act. Any or all of these shares may be released prior to the expiration of the lock-up period at the discretion of the representatives of the underwriters of this offering. To the extent shares are released before the expiration of the lock-up period and sold into the market, the market price of our ADSs could decline.
After completion of this offering, certain holders of our ordinary shares may cause us to register under the Securities Act the sale of their shares, subject to the 180-day lock-up period in connection with this offering. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in ADSs representing these shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act immediately upon the effectiveness of the registration. Sales of these registered shares in the form of ADSs in the public market could cause the price of our ADSs to decline.
You, as holders of ADSs, may have fewer rights than holders of our ordinary shares and must act through the depositary to exercise those rights.
Holders of ADSs do not have the same rights of our shareholders and may only exercise the voting rights with respect to the underlying Class A ordinary shares in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Under the post-offering memorandum and articles of association that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, the minimum notice period required to convene a general meeting is seven days. When a general meeting is convened, you may not receive sufficient notice of a shareholders' meeting to permit you to withdraw your ordinary shares to allow you to cast your vote with respect to any specific matter. In addition, the depositary and its agents may not be able to send voting instructions to you or carry out your voting instructions in a timely manner. We will make all reasonable efforts to cause the depositary to extend voting rights to you in a timely manner, but we cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote your ADSs. Furthermore, the depositary and its agents will not be responsible for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any such vote. As a result, you may not be able to exercise your right to vote and you may lack recourse if your ADSs are not voted as you requested. In addition, in your capacity as an ADS holder, you will not be able to call a shareholders' meeting.
Except in limited circumstances, the depositary for our ADSs will give us a discretionary proxy to vote the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs if you do not vote at shareholders' meetings, which could adversely affect your interests.
Under the deposit agreement for the ADSs, if you do not vote, the depositary will give us a discretionary proxy to vote the Class A ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at shareholders' meetings unless:
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The effect of this discretionary proxy is that you cannot prevent our ordinary shares underlying your ADSs from being voted, except under the circumstances described above. This may make it more difficult for shareholders to influence the management of our company. Holders of our ordinary shares are not subject to this discretionary proxy.
Your right to participate in any future rights offerings may be limited, which may cause dilution to your holdings.
We may from time to time distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire our securities. However, we cannot make rights available to you in the United States unless we register both the rights and the securities to which the rights relate under the Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements is available. Under the deposit agreement, the depositary will not make rights available to you unless both the rights and the underlying securities to be distributed to ADS holders are either registered under the Securities Act or exempt from registration under the Securities Act. We are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to any such rights or securities or to endeavor to cause such a registration statement to be declared effective and we may not be able to establish a necessary exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution in your holdings.
You may not receive cash dividends if the depositary decides it is impractical to make them available to you.
The depositary will pay cash dividends on the ADSs only to the extent that we decide to distribute dividends on our Class A ordinary shares or other deposited securities, and we do not have any present plan to pay any cash dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. To the extent that there is a distribution, the depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on our Class A ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of Class A ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary may, at its discretion, decide that it is inequitable or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, the depositary may determine that it is not practicable to distribute certain property through the mail, or that the value of certain distributions may be less than the cost of mailing them. In these cases, the depositary may decide not to distribute such property to you.
You may be subject to limitations on transfer of your ADSs.
Your ADSs are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. In addition, the depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary deems it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.
Certain judgments obtained against us by our shareholders may not be enforceable.
We are a company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. We conduct our operations in China and substantially all of our assets are located in China. In addition, our directors and executive officers, and some of the experts named in this prospectus, reside within China, and most of the assets of these persons are located within China. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the United States in the event that you believe that your rights have been infringed under the U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and of the PRC may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and
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officers. For more information regarding the relevant laws of the Cayman Islands and China, see "Enforceability of Civil Liabilities."
Since we are a Cayman Islands company, the rights of our shareholders may be more limited than those of shareholders of a company organized in the United States.
Under the laws of some jurisdictions in the United States, majority and controlling shareholders generally have certain fiduciary responsibilities to the minority shareholders. Shareholder action must be taken in good faith, and actions by controlling shareholders which are obviously unreasonable may be declared null and void. Cayman Island law protecting the interests of minority shareholders may not be as protective in all circumstances as the law protecting minority shareholders in some U.S. jurisdictions. In addition, the circumstances in which a shareholder of a Cayman Islands company may sue the company derivatively, and the procedures and defenses that may be available to the company, may result in the rights of shareholders of a Cayman Islands company being more limited than those of shareholders of a company organized in the United States.
Furthermore, our directors have the power to take certain actions without shareholder approval which would require shareholder approval under the laws of most U.S. jurisdictions. The directors of a Cayman Islands company, without shareholder approval, may implement a sale of any assets, property, part of the business, or securities of the company. Our ability to create and issue new classes or series of shares without shareholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control without any further action by our shareholders, including a tender offer to purchase our ordinary shares at a premium over then current market prices.
You must rely on the judgment of our management as to the use of the net proceeds from this offering, and such use may not produce income or increase our ADS price.
A significant portion of the net proceeds of this offering is allocated for general corporate purposes, including funding potential investments in and acquisitions of complementary businesses, assets and technologies. Our management will have considerable discretion in the application of the net proceeds received by us. You will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether proceeds are being used appropriately. The net proceeds may be used for corporate purposes that do not improve our efforts to achieve or maintain profitability or increase our ADS price. The net proceeds from this offering may be placed in investments that do not produce income or that lose value.
The post-offering memorandum and articles of association that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering contain anti-takeover provisions that could discourage a third party from acquiring us and adversely affect the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares and ADSs.
We have adopted an amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering. The post-offering memorandum and articles of association will contain certain provisions that could limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company, including a dual-class voting structure that gives disproportionate voting power to the Class B ordinary shares held by Max Smart Limited, a company wholly owned by our founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu and of which he is the sole director, and those held by Fortune Rising Holdings Limited of which Mr. Liu is the sole shareholder and sole director. Mr. Liu will beneficially own 83.7% of the aggregate voting power of our company, including the 16.1% of the aggregate voting power of our company that he may exercise on behalf of Fortune Rising Holdings Limited, immediately following the completion of this offering assuming (i) the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option to purchase additional ADSs and (ii) we issue and sell 138,014,720 Class A ordinary shares in the private placement to Huang River Investment Limited concurrently with this offering. Fortune Rising Holdings Limited holds the shares for the
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purpose of transferring such shares to the plan participants according to our awards under our 2013 Plan, and administer the awards and acts according to our instruction, and is therefore treated as our consolidated variable interest entity under U.S. GAAP. In addition, our post-offering memorandum and articles of association will also contain a provision that grants authority to our board of directors to establish and issue from time to time one or more series of preferred shares without action by our shareholders and to determine, with respect to any series of preferred shares, the terms and rights of that series. These provisions could have the effect of depriving our shareholders of the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over the prevailing market price by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of our company in a tender offer or similar transactions.
We are a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the rules under the Exchange Act, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions applicable to U.S. domestic public companies.
Because we qualify as a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain provisions of the securities rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, including:
We will be required to file an annual report on Form 20-F within four months of the end of each fiscal year. In addition, we intend to publish our results on a quarterly basis as press releases, distributed pursuant to the rules and regulations of NASDAQ. Press releases relating to financial results and material events will also be furnished to the SEC on Form 6-K. However, the information we are required to file with or furnish to the SEC will be less extensive and less timely compared to that required to be filed with the SEC by U.S. domestic issuers. As a result, you may not be afforded the same protections or information that would be made available to you were you investing in a U.S. domestic issuer.
As a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from NASDAQ corporate governance listing standards; these practices may afford less protection to shareholders than they would enjoy if we complied fully with NASDAQ corporate governance listing standards.
As a Cayman Islands company listed on NASDAQ, we are subject to NASDAQ corporate governance listing standards. However, NASDAQ rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to follow the corporate governance practices of its home country. Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, may differ significantly from NASDAQ corporate governance listing standards. For example, neither the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands nor our post-offering memorandum and articles of association that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering requires a majority of our directors to be independent and we could include non-independent directors as members of our compensation committee and nominating committee, and our independent directors would not necessarily hold regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present. Currently, we do not plan to rely on home country
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practice with respect to our corporate governance after we complete this offering. However, if we choose to follow home country practice in the future, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would under NASDAQ corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.
We may be classified as a passive foreign investment company for United States federal income tax purposes, which could subject United States investors in the ADSs or ordinary shares to significant adverse tax consequences.
Depending upon the value of our assets, which may be determined based, in part, on the market value of our ADSs and ordinary shares, and the nature of our assets and income over time, we could be classified as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for United States federal income tax purposes. A non-United States corporation, such as our company, will be classified as a PFIC for United States federal income tax purposes for any taxable year, if either (i) 75% or more of its gross income for such year consists of certain types of "passive" income or (ii) 50% or more of the value of its assets (determined on the basis of a quarterly average) during such year produce or are held for the production of passive income. The average percentage of a corporation's assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income generally is determined on the basis of the fair market value of the corporation's assets at the end of each quarter. This determination is based on the adjusted tax basis of the corporation's assets, however, if the corporation is a "controlled foreign corporation," or CFC, that is not a publicly traded corporation for the taxable year. If we are treated as a CFC for United States federal income tax purposes for any portion of our taxable year that includes this offering, we would likely be classified as a PFIC for our taxable year ending December 31, 2014. Although no assurances can be made in this regard, based on our current shareholder composition, we believe that we are not a CFC.
In addition, we will be treated as owning a proportionate share of the assets and earning a proportionate share of the income of any other corporation in which we own, directly or indirectly, more than 25% (by value) of the stock. Although the law in this regard is unclear, we treat our VIEs as being owned by us for United States federal income tax purposes because we control their management decisions and we are entitled to substantially all of the economic benefits and obligated to absorb substantially all of the losses associated with these entities, and, as a result, we consolidate their results of operations in our U.S. GAAP financial statements and treat them as being owned by us for United States federal income tax purposes. If it were determined, however, that that we are not the owner of our VIEs for United States federal income tax purposes, we may be treated as a PFIC for our current taxable year and in future taxable years.
Based on our current income and assets and projections of the value of our ADSs and outstanding ordinary shares, we do not expect to be classified as a PFIC for our taxable year ending December 31, 2014 or in the foreseeable future. Because PFIC status is a fact-intensive determination and our expectation for our taxable year ending December 31, 2014 is based, in part, on our belief that we are not a CFC, no assurance can be given that we will not be classified as a PFIC.While we do not anticipate becoming a PFIC, changes in the nature of our income or assets, or fluctuations in the market price of our ADSs or ordinary shares, may cause us to become a PFIC for future taxable years. In estimating the value of our goodwill and other unbooked intangibles, we have taken into account our anticipated market capitalization following the close of this offering. Among other factors, if our market capitalization is less than anticipated or subsequently declines, we may be or become classified as a PFIC for the current or future taxable years. Under circumstances where revenues from activities that produce passive income significantly increase relative to our revenues from activities that produce non-passive income or where we determine not to deploy significant amounts of cash for working capital or other purposes, our risk of becoming classified as a PFIC may substantially increase.
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If we are classified as a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. Holder holds our ADSs or ordinary shares, a U.S. Holder may incur significantly increased United States federal income tax on gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of the ADSs or ordinary shares and on the receipt of distributions on the ADSs or ordinary shares to the extent such gain or distribution is treated as an "excess distribution" under the United States federal income tax rules. If we are so classified, our ADSs or ordinary shares generally will continue to be treated as shares in a PFIC for all succeeding years during which a U.S. Holder holds our ADSs or ordinary shares, even if we cease to be a PFIC. See the discussion under "TaxationMaterial United States Federal Income Tax ConsiderationsPassive Foreign Investment Company Rules" concerning the United States federal income tax consequences of an investment in the ADSs or ordinary shares if we are or become classified as a PFIC, including the possibility of making a "deemed sale" election.
We will incur increased costs as a result of being a public company.
As a result of this offering, we have become a public company and expect to incur significant accounting, legal and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and NASDAQ, have detailed requirements concerning corporate governance practices of public companies, including Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act relating to internal controls over financial reporting. We expect these rules and regulations applicable to public companies to increase our accounting, legal and financial compliance costs and to make certain corporate activities more time-consuming and costly. Our management will be required to devote substantial time and attention to our public company reporting obligations and other compliance matters. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules and regulations, and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. Our reporting and other compliance obligations as a public company may place a strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future.
In the past, shareholders of a public company often brought securities class action suits against the company following periods of instability in the market price of that company's securities. If we were involved in a class action suit, it could divert a significant amount of our management's attention and other resources from our business and operations, which could harm our results of operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and views of future events. The forward looking statements are contained principally in the sections entitled "Prospectus Summary," "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Business." Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under "Risk Factors," may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
You can identify some of these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "is/are likely to," "potential," "continue" or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to:
These forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. Although we believe that our expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, our expectations may later be found to be incorrect. Our actual results could be materially different from our expectations. Important risks and factors that could cause our actual results to be materially different from our expectations are generally set forth in "Prospectus SummaryOur Challenges," "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," "Business," "Regulation" and other sections in this prospectus. You should thoroughly read this prospectus and the documents that we refer to with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from and worse than what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
This prospectus contains certain data and information that we obtained from various government and private publications. Statistical data in these publications also include projections based on a number of assumptions. The online retail industry may not grow at the rate projected by market data, or at all. Failure of this market to grow at the projected rate may have a material and adverse effect on our business and the market price of our ADSs. In addition, the rapidly changing nature of the online retail industry results in significant uncertainties for any projections or estimates relating to the growth prospects or future condition of our market. Furthermore, if any one or more of the assumptions underlying the market data are later found to be incorrect, actual results may differ from the projections based on these assumptions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements made in this prospectus relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this prospectus. Except as required by law, we
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undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this prospectus and the documents that we refer to in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.
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We estimate that we will receive net proceeds of approximately US$1,248 million from this offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and the estimated offering expenses payable by us and net proceeds of approximately US$1,309 million from the concurrent private placement to Huang River Investment Limited, after deducting the placement fee payable by us. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full and Huang River Investment Limited exercises its option to further subscribe to Class A ordinary shares to maintain the 5% proportionate size of the concurrent private placement, these numbers would increase to US$1,504 million and US$1,323 million, respectively.
The primary purposes of this offering are to create a public market for our shares for the benefit of all shareholders, retain talented employees by providing them with equity incentives, and obtain additional capital.
We plan to use the net proceeds of this offering and the concurrent private placement as follows:
The foregoing represents our current intentions based upon our present plans and business conditions to use and allocate the net proceeds of this offering. Our management, however, will have significant flexibility and discretion to apply the net proceeds of this offering. If an unforeseen event occurs or business conditions change, we may use the proceeds of this offering differently than as described in this prospectus. See "Risk FactorsRisks Related to This OfferingYou must rely on the judgment of our management as to the use of the net proceeds from this offering, and such use may not produce income or increase our ADS price."
Pending any use described above, we plan to invest the net proceeds in short-term, interest-bearing, debt instruments or demand deposits.
In using the proceeds of this offering, we are permitted under PRC laws and regulations as an offshore holding company to provide funding to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China only through loans or capital contributions and to other subsidiaries in China and our consolidated variable interest entities only through loans, subject to the approval of government authorities and limit on the amount of capital contributions and loans. Subject to satisfaction of applicable government registration and approval requirements, we may extend inter-company loans to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China or make additional capital contributions to these subsidiaries to fund their capital expenditures or working capital. For an increase of registered capital of our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries, we need to obtain approval from the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterparts, which will decide within 90 days after receiving the application. If we provide funding to any of our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries through loans, the total amount of such loans may not exceed the difference between the entity's total investment as approved by the foreign investment authorities and its registered capital. Such loans must be registered with SAFE or its local branches, which usually takes up to 20 working days to complete. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain these government registrations or approvals on a timely basis, if at all. See "Risk FactorsRisks Related to Our Corporate StructurePRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using the proceeds of this offering to make loans to our PRC subsidiaries and consolidated variable interest entities or make additional capital contributions to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business."
We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of ADSs by the selling shareholders.
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Our board of directors has complete discretion on whether to distribute dividends. Even if our board of directors decides to pay dividends, the form, frequency and amount will depend upon our future operations and earnings, capital requirements and surplus, general financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that the board of directors may deem relevant.
We do not have any present plan to pay any cash dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future after this offering. We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings to operate and expand our business.
We are a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. We may rely on dividends from our subsidiaries in China for our cash requirements, including any payment of dividends to our shareholders. PRC regulations may restrict the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends to us. See "Risk FactorsRisks Related to Our Corporate StructureWe may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we may have, and any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to make payments to us could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business."
If we pay any dividends, we will pay our ADS holders to the same extent as holders of our ordinary shares, subject to the terms of the deposit agreement, including the fees and expenses payable thereunder. See "Description of American Depositary Shares." Cash dividends on our ordinary shares, if any, will be paid in U.S. dollars.
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The following table sets forth our capitalization as of December 31, 2013:
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You should read this table together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus and the information under "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
|
As of December 31, 2013 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Actual | Pro Forma | Pro Forma As Adjusted |
|||||||
|
(in thousands of RMB) |
|||||||||
Mezzanine equity: |
||||||||||
Series C convertible redeemable preferred shares (US$0.00002 par value; 258,316,305 shares authorized, issued and outstanding(1) on an actual basis; and none outstanding on a pro forma or a pro forma as adjusted basis.) |
7,173,263 | | | |||||||
Shareholders' equity: |
||||||||||
Series A and A-1 convertible preferred shares (US$0.00002 par value; 221,360,925 shares authorized, 191,894,000 shares issued and outstanding(1) on an actual basis; and none outstanding on a pro forma or a pro forma as adjusted basis.) |
255,850 | | | |||||||
Series B convertible preferred shares (US$0.00002 par value; 84,786,405 shares authorized, 59,539,244 issued and outstanding(1) on an actual basis; and none outstanding on a pro forma or a pro forma as adjusted basis.) |
88,241 | | | |||||||
Ordinary shares (US$0.00002 par value; 2,435,536,365 shares authorized, 1,502,933,134 shares issued 1,463,654,092 shares outstanding(1) on an actual basis, 1,536,267,394 Class A ordinary shares and 437,136,247 Class B ordinary shares outstanding on a pro-forma basis, and 2,177,875,831 Class A ordinary shares and 517,016,857 Class B ordinary shares outstanding on a pro-forma as adjusted basis.) |
199 | 261 | 349 | |||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
6,251,869 | 13,806,732 | 44,576,596 | |||||||
Statutory reserves |
2,648 | 2,648 | 2,648 | |||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(4,263,624 | ) | (4,301,195 | ) | (7,954,409 | ) | ||||
| | | | | | | | | | |
Accumulated other comprehensive loss |
(268,618 | ) | (268,618 | ) | (268,618 | ) | ||||
| | | | | | | | | | |
Total shareholders' equity |
2,066,565 | 9,239,828 | 36,356,566 | |||||||
Total capitalization |
9,239,828 | 9,239,828 | 36,356,566 | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |
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If you invest in our ADSs, your interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per ADS and our net tangible book value per ADS after this offering. Dilution results from the fact that the initial public offering price per ordinary share is substantially in excess of the book value per ordinary share attributable to the existing shareholders for our presently outstanding ordinary shares.
Our net tangible book value as of December 31, 2013 was approximately US$1.5 billion, or US$1.01 per ordinary share as of that date and US$2.03 per ADS. Net tangible book value represents the amount of our total consolidated tangible assets, less the amount of our total consolidated liabilities. Dilution is determined by subtracting net tangible book value per ordinary share, after giving effect to the additional proceeds we will receive from this offering and the concurrent private placement, from the initial public offering price of US$9.50 per ordinary share, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Because the Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares have the same dividend and other rights, except for voting and conversion rights, the dilution is presented based on all ordinary shares, including Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares.
Without taking into account any other changes in net tangible book value after December 31, 2013, other than to give effect to (i) the issuance of 351,678,637 ordinary shares to Huang River Investment Limited on March 10, 2014, (ii) our sale of the ADSs offered in this offering at the initial public offering price of US$19.00 per ADS, after deduction of the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, (iii) our issuance and sale of 138,014,720 Class A ordinary shares in the private placement to Huang River Investment Limited concurrently with this offering, and (iv) 93,780,970 ordinary shares we will issue to Max Smart Limited immediately after the listing of our ADSs on NASDAQ, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of December 31, 2013 would have been US$1.58 per ordinary share and US$3.16 per ADS. This represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value of US$0.83 per ordinary share and US$1.65 per ADS to the existing shareholders and an immediate dilution in net tangible book value of US$7.92 per ordinary share and US$15.84 per ADS to investors purchasing ADSs in this offering. The following table illustrates such dilution:
|
Per Ordinary Share | Per ADS | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial public offering price |
US$ | 9.50 | US$ | 19.00 | |||
Net tangible book value as of December 31, 2013 |
US$ | 1.01 | US$ | 2.03 | |||
Pro forma net tangible book value after giving effect to the conversion of our preferred shares |
US$ | 0.75 | US$ | 1.51 | |||
Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value after giving effect to the conversion of our preferred shares, the issuance to Huang River Investment Limited, this offering and the concurrent private placement |
US$ | 1.58 | US$ | 3.16 | |||
Amount of dilution in net tangible book value to new investors in this offering |
US$ | 7.92 | US$ | 15.84 |
The following table summarizes, on a pro forma as adjusted basis as of December 31, 2013, the differences between existing shareholders and the new investors with respect to the number of ordinary shares (in the form of ADSs or shares) purchased from us in this offering and the concurrent private placement, the total consideration paid and the average price per ordinary share and per ADS paid before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. The
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total number of ordinary shares does not include ordinary shares underlying the ADSs issuable upon the exercise of the over-allotment option granted to the underwriters.
|
Ordinary Shares Purchased |
Total Consideration |
|
|
|||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Average Price Per Ordinary Share |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Average Price Per ADS |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Number | Percent | Amount | Percent | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
(in million) |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
Existing shareholders |
2,418,863,248 | 89.8 | % | US$ | 3,880 | 59.6 | % | US$ | 1.60 | US$ | 3.21 | ||||||||
Concurrent private placement to Tencent |
138,014,720 | 5.1 | % | US$ | 1,311 | 20.2 | % | US$ | 9.50 | US$ | 19.00 | ||||||||
New investors |
138,014,720 | 5.1 | % | US$ | 1,311 | 20.2 | % | US$ | 9.50 | US$ | 19.00 | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total |
2,694,892,688 | 100.0 | % | US$ | 6,502 | 100.0 | % | ||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Substantially all of our operations are conducted in China and substantially all of our revenues are denominated in RMB. This prospectus contains translations of RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at specific rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB in this prospectus were made at a rate of RMB6.0537 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in The City of New York for cable transfers of RMB as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on December 31, 2013. We make no representation that any RMB or U.S. dollar amounts could have been, or could be, converted into U.S. dollars or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate, at the rates stated below, or at all. The PRC government imposes control over its foreign currency reserves in part through direct regulation of the conversion of RMB into foreign exchange and through restrictions on foreign trade. On May 16, 2014, the noon buying rate was RMB6.2327 to US$1.00.
The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, information concerning exchange rates between the Renminbi and the U.S. dollar based on the noon buying rate in New York City as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These rates are provided solely for your convenience and are not necessarily the exchange rates that we used in this prospectus or will use in the preparation of our periodic reports or any other information to be provided to you.
|
Noon Buying Rate | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Period
|
Period End | Average(1) | Low | High | |||||||||
|
(RMB per U.S. Dollar) |
||||||||||||
2009 |
6.8259 | 6.8295 | 6.8470 | 6.8176 | |||||||||
2010 |
6.6000 | 6.7603 | 6.8330 | 6.6000 | |||||||||
2011 |
6.2939 | 6.4475 | 6.6364 | 6.2939 | |||||||||
2012 |
6.2301 | 6.2990 | 6.3879 | 6.2221 | |||||||||
2013 |
6.0537 | 6.1412 | 6.2438 | 6.0537 | |||||||||
November |
6.0922 | 6.0929 | 6.0993 | 6.0903 | |||||||||
December |
6.0537 | 6.0738 | 6.0927 | 6.0537 | |||||||||
2014 |
|||||||||||||
January |
6.0590 | 6.0509 | 6.0600 | 6.0402 | |||||||||
February |
6.1448 | 6.0816 | 6.1448 | 6.0591 | |||||||||
March |
6.2164 | 6.1729 | 6.2273 | 6.1183 | |||||||||
April |
6.2591 | 6.2246 | 6.2591 | 6.1966 | |||||||||
May (through May 16, 2014) |
6.2327 | 6.2361 | 6.2591 | 6.2255 |
Source: Federal Reserve Statistical Release
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ENFORCEABILITY OF CIVIL LIABILITIES
We are incorporated in the Cayman Islands to take advantage of certain benefits associated with being a Cayman Islands exempted company, such as:
However, certain disadvantages accompany incorporation in the Cayman Islands. These disadvantages include:
Our constituent documents do not contain provisions requiring that disputes, including those arising under the securities laws of the United States, between us, our officers, directors and shareholders, be arbitrated.
Substantially all of our operations are conducted in China, and substantially all of our assets are located in China. A majority of our directors and executive officers are nationals or residents of jurisdictions other than the United States and a substantial portion of their assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for a shareholder to effect service of process within the United States upon these persons, or to enforce against us or them judgments obtained in United States courts, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States.
We have appointed Law Debenture Corporate Services Inc., located at 400 Madison Avenue 4th Floor, New York, New York 10017 as our agent upon whom process may be served in any action brought against us under the securities laws of the United States.
We have been informed by Maples and Calder, our counsel as to Cayman Islands law, that the United States and the Cayman Islands do not have a treaty providing for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of U.S. courts in civil and commercial matters and that a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by any federal or state court in the United States based on civil liability, whether or not predicated solely upon the U.S. federal securities laws, would not be automatically enforceable in the Cayman Islands. We have also been advised by Maples and Calder that a final and conclusive judgment obtained in U.S. federal or state courts under which a sum of money is payable as compensatory damages (i.e., not being a sum claimed by a revenue authority for taxes or other charges of a similar nature by a governmental authority, or in respect of a fine or penalty or multiple or punitive damages) will be recognized and enforced in the courts of the Cayman Islands at common law, without any re-examination of the merits of the underlying dispute, by an action commenced on the foreign judgment debt in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, provided that:
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A Cayman Islands court may impose civil liability on us or our directors or officers in a suit brought in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands against us or these persons with respect to a violation of U.S. federal securities laws, provided that the facts surrounding any violation constitute or give rise to a cause of action under Cayman Islands law. Our shareholders can, under certain circumstances, originate actions against us in the Cayman Islands. See "Description of Share CapitalDifferences in Corporate LawShareholders' Suits."
Zhong Lun Law Firm, our counsel as to PRC law, has advised us that there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of China would:
Zhong Lun Law Firm has further advised us that the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are provided for under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. PRC courts may recognize and enforce foreign judgments in accordance with the requirements of the PRC Civil Procedures Law based either on treaties between China and the country where the judgment is made or on principles of reciprocity between jurisdictions. China does not have any treaties or other form of reciprocity with the United States or the Cayman Islands that provide for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. In addition, according to the PRC Civil Procedures Law, courts in the PRC will not enforce a foreign judgment against us or our directors and officers if they decide that the judgment violates the basic principles of PRC law or national sovereignty, security or public interest. As a result, it is uncertain whether and on what basis a PRC court would enforce a judgment rendered by a court in the United States or the Cayman Islands. Under the PRC Civil Procedures Law, foreign shareholders may originate actions based on PRC law against us in the PRC, if they can establish sufficient nexus to the PRC for a PRC court to have jurisdiction, and meet other procedural requirements, including, among others, the plaintiff must have a direct interest in the case, and there must be a concrete claim, a factual basis and a cause for the suit. However, it would be difficult for foreign shareholders to establish sufficient nexus to the PRC by virtue only of holding our ADSs or ordinary shares.
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CORPORATE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE
Our founder, Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, launched an online retail website in January 2004. He subsequently formed a company in Beijing and another company in Shanghai and conducted his online retail business through these two companies. In November 2006, we incorporated Star Wave Investments Holdings Limited under the laws of the British Virgin Islands as our offshore holding company in order to facilitate international financing. We later changed the name of this entity to 360buy Jingdong Inc. In January 2014, 360buy Jingdong Inc. was redomiciled in the Cayman Islands as an exempted company registered under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and was renamed JD.com, Inc.
In April 2007, we established a wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Beijing Jingdong Century Trade Co., Ltd., or Jingdong Century, and we acquired certain intellectual property rights from the two companies our founder had established earlier, which ceased business operations and were later liquidated and dissolved. Since then, Jingdong Century has established a variety of subsidiaries in China to engage in wholesale and retail sales, courier services, research and development, and internet finance.
We assisted in establishing Beijing Jingdong 360 Degree E-Commerce Co., Ltd., or Jingdong 360, in April 2007. Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu and Mr. Jiaming Sun are the shareholders of Jingdong 360, with Mr. Liu owning 45% and Mr. Sun owning 55% as of the date of this prospectus. We obtained control over Jingdong 360 through Jingdong Century in April 2007 by entering into a series of contractual arrangements with Jingdong 360 and the shareholders of Jingdong 360 which we refer to as the Jingdong 360 Agreements. The Jingdong 360 Agreements were subsequently amended and restated in April 2011 and again in May 2012, and some of the Jingdong 360 Agreements were further amended and restated in December 2013. Jingdong 360 holds our ICP license as an internet information provider and operates our website www.jd.com. In October 2012, Jingdong 360 acquired, through its wholly owned subsidiary, an online payment service provider which currently holds our online payment license and provides online payment services.
We assisted in establishing Jiangsu Yuanzhou E-Commerce Co., Ltd., or Jiangsu Yuanzhou, in September 2010. Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu and Mr. Jiaming Sun are also the shareholders of Jiangsu Yuanzhou, with Mr. Liu owning 45% and Mr. Sun owning 55% as of the date of this prospectus. We obtained control over Jiangsu Yuanzhou through Jingdong Century by commitments between Mr. Liu, Mr. Sun, Jiangsu Yuanzhou and Jingdong Century at the time Jiangsu Yuanzhou was established. Jingdong Century entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Jiangsu Yuanzhou and its shareholders in April 2011 which we refer to as the Jiangsu Yuanzhou Agreements. The Jiangsu Yuanzhou Agreements were subsequently amended and restated in May 2012, and some of the Jiangsu Yuanzhou Agreements were further amended and restated in November 2012 and December 2013. Jiangsu Yuanzhou primarily conducts the sale of books and audio and video products.
These two sets of contractual arrangements allow us to:
As a result of our ownership of Jingdong Century, we became the primary beneficiary of Jingdong 360 in April 2007 and of Jiangsu Yuanzhou in September 2010, and we treat them as our variable interest entities under U.S. GAAP. We have consolidated the financial results of Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
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Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou collectively contributed 2.2%, 3.2% and 2.9% of our consolidated total net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.
In April 2011, we established a wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Shanghai Shengdayuan Information Technology Co., Ltd., or Shanghai Shengdayuan. Currently, Shanghai Shengdayuan primarily operates our online marketplace business.
In April 2012, we established an additional wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Tianjin Star East Corporation Limited, or Star East, which is expected to provide primarily warehousing and related services.
In August 2012, we established an additional wholly owned PRC subsidiary, Beijing Jingbangda Trade Co., Ltd., or Jingbangda, which is expected to provide primarily courier services.
In January 2014, our wholly owned subsidiary, JD.com International Limited, which was previously established in Hong Kong, became the intermediate holding company owning 100% of Jingdong Century.
In March 2014, we entered into a series of agreements with Tencent and its affiliates pursuant to which we have acquired 100% interests in Tencent's Paipai and QQ Wanggou online marketplace businesses, a 9.9% stake in Shanghai Icson, logistics personnel and certain other assets. In connection with the acquisition, four PRC entities formerly owned or controlled by Tencent became subsidiaries of our wholly owned PRC subsidiaries and our variable interest entity. We also entered into a five-year strategic cooperation agreement and a eight-year non-compete agreement with Tencent. See "Prospectus SummaryTransactions with Tencent."
The following diagram illustrates our corporate structure, including our principal subsidiaries and the two consolidated variable interest entities through which we conduct part of our business, as of the date of this prospectus:
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The following is a summary of the currently effective Jingdong 360 Agreements and Jiangsu Yuanzhou Agreements.
Agreements that Provide Us with Effective Control over Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou
Equity Pledge Agreements. On December 25, 2013, Jingdong Century and each of the shareholders of Jingdong 360 entered into an amended and restated equity pledge agreement in replacement of the previous equity pledge agreement. Pursuant to the amended and restated equity pledge agreements, each of the shareholders of Jingdong 360 has pledged all of his equity interest in Jingdong 360 to guarantee their and Jingdong 360's performance of his obligations under, where applicable, the amended and restated exclusive technology consulting and services agreement, loan agreement, exclusive purchase option agreement and power of attorney. If Jingdong 360 or the shareholders of Jingdong 360 breach their contractual obligations under these agreements, Jingdong Century, as pledgee, will have the right to dispose of the pledged equity interests. The shareholders of Jingdong 360 agree that, during the term of the equity pledge agreements, they will not dispose of the pledged equity interests or create or allow any encumbrance on the pledged equity interests, and they also agree that Jingdong Century's rights relating to the equity pledge should not be prejudiced by the legal actions of the shareholders, their successors or their designatees. During the term of the equity pledge, Jingdong Century has the right to receive all of the dividends and profits distributed on the pledged equity. The amended and restated equity pledge agreements will terminate on the second anniversary of the date when Jingdong 360 and the shareholders of Jingdong 360 have completed all their obligations under the amended and restated exclusive technology consulting and services agreement, loan agreement, exclusive purchase option agreement and powers of attorney. We have completed the registration of the equity pledge with the relevant office of the administration for industry and commerce in accordance with the PRC Property Rights Law.
On December 18, 2013, Jingdong Century and each of the shareholders of Jiangsu Yuanzhou entered into an amended and restated equity pledge agreement in replacement of the previous equity pledge agreements. The amended and restated equity pledge agreements between Jingdong Century and the shareholders of Jiangsu Yuanzhou contain terms substantially similar to the amended and restated equity pledge agreements relating to Jingdong 360 described above. We have completed the registration of the equity pledge with the relevant office of the administration for industry and commerce in accordance with the PRC Property Rights Law.
Powers of Attorney. On December 25, 2013, each of the shareholders of Jingdong 360 granted another irrevocable power of attorney to replace the irrevocable powers of attorney previously executed, Pursuant to the irrevocable power of attorney, each of the shareholders of Jingdong 360 appointed Jingdong Century's designated person as his attorney-in-fact to exercise all shareholder rights, including but not limited to voting on their behalf on all matters of Jingdong 360 requiring shareholder approval, disposing of all or part of the shareholder's equity interest in Jingdong 360, and electing, appointing or removing directors and executive officers. The person designated by Jingdong Century is entitled to dispose of dividends and profits on the equity interest subject to the instructions of the shareholder. Each power of attorney will remain in force for so long as the shareholder remains a shareholder of Jingdong 360. Each shareholder has waived all the rights which have been authorized to Jingdong Century's designated person under each power of attorney.
On December 18, 2013, each of the shareholders of Jiangsu Yuanzhou granted another irrevocable power of attorney in replacement of the irrevocable powers of attorney previsouly executed. The powers of attorney contain terms substantially similar to the powers of attorney granted by the shareholders of Jingdong 360 described above.
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Agreements that Allow Us to Receive Economic Benefits from Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou
Exclusive Technology Consulting and Services Agreement. On May 29, 2012, Jingdong Century and Jingdong 360 entered into an amended and restated exclusive technology consulting and services agreement in replacement of the previous exclusive technology consulting and services agreement. Pursuant to the amended and restated exclusive technology consulting and services agreement, Jingdong Century has the sole and exclusive right to provide specified technology consulting and services to Jingdong 360. Without the prior written consent of Jingdong Century, Jingdong 360 may not accept the same or similar technology consulting and services provided by any third party during the term of the agreement. All the benefits and interests generated from the agreement, including but not limited to intellectual property rights, know-how and trade secrets, will be Jingdong Century's sole and exclusive rights. Jingdong 360 agrees to pay service fees to Jingdong Century on a quarterly basis and the amount of the service fee is decided by Jingdong Century on the basis of the work performed and commercial value of the services, the minimum amount of which is RMB10,000 (US$1,652) per quarter subject to annual evaluation and adjustment. The term of this agreement will expire on May 28, 2022 and may be extended unilaterally by Jingdong Century with Jingdong Century's written confirmation prior to the expiration date. Jingdong 360 cannot terminate the agreement early unless Jingdong Century commits fraud, gross negligence or illegal acts, or becomes bankrupt or winds up.
Jingdong Century and Jiangsu Yuanzhou entered into an amended and restated exclusive technology consulting and services agreement on May 29, 2012 in replacement of the previous exclusive technology consulting and services agreement. The amended and restated exclusive technology consulting and services agreement between Jingdong Century and Jiangsu Yuanzhou contains terms substantially similar to the exclusive technology consulting and services agreement relating to Jingdong 360 described above.
Intellectual Property Rights License Agreement. On December 25, 2013, Jingdong Century and certain of its subsidiaries entered into an amended and restated intellectual property rights license agreement with Jingdong 360 in replacement of the previous intellectual property rights license agreement. Pursuant to the amended and restated intellectual property rights license agreement, Jingdong Century and the subsidiaries grant Jingdong 360 a non-exclusive right to use certain of its trademarks, patents, copyrights to computer software and other copyrights. Jingdong 360 is permitted to use the intellectual property rights only within the scope of its internet information service operation and in the territory of China. Jingdong 360 agrees that at any time it will not challenge the validity of Jingdong Century's license rights and other rights with respect to the licensed intellectual property and will not take actions that would prejudice Jingdong Century's rights and the license. Jingdong 360 agrees to pay license fees to Jingdong Century and the amount of the license fee is at least RMB10,000 (US$1,652) per year, subject to annual evaluation and adjustment. Without Jingdong Century's written consent, Jingdong 360 cannot assign or sublicense its rights under the license agreement or transfer the economic interests arising from the license to any third party. The initial term of this agreement is 10 years and may be extended unilaterally by Jingdong Century with Jingdong Century's written confirmation prior to the expiration date.
On December 18, 2013, Jingdong Century and certain of its subsidiaries entered into an amended and restated intellectual property rights license agreement with Jiangsu Yuanzhou in replacement of the previous intellectual property rights license agreement. The amended and restated intellectual property rights license agreement with Jiangsu Yuanzhou contains terms substantially similar to the intellectual property rights license agreement with Jingdong 360 described above.
Business Cooperation Agreement. On May 29, 2012, Jingdong Century and Shanghai Shengdayuan entered into an amended and restated business cooperation agreement with Jingdong 360 in replacement of the previous business cooperation agreement between Jingdong Century and Jingdong 360. Pursuant to the amended and restated business cooperation agreement, Jingdong 360
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agrees to provide to Jingdong Century and Shanghai Shengdayuan services, including operating our website, posting Jingdong Century's and Shanghai Shengdayuan's product and service information on the website, transmitting the users' order and transaction information to Jingdong Century and Shanghai Shengdayuan, processing user data and transactions in collaboration with banks and payment agents and other services reasonably requested by Jingdong Century and Shanghai Shengdayuan. Jingdong Century and Shanghai Shengdayuan agree to pay service fees to Jingdong 360 on a quarterly basis. The service fee should be 105% of Jingdong 360's operating costs incurred in the previous quarter, but in no event more than RMB20,000 (US$3,304) per quarter. The term of this agreement will expire on May 28, 2022 and may be extended unilaterally by Jingdong Century and Shanghai Shengdayuan with their written confirmation prior to the expiration date.
Agreements that Provide Us with the Option to Purchase the Equity Interest in Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou
Exclusive Purchase Option Agreements. On December 25, 2013, Jingdong Century, Jingdong 360 and the shareholders of Jingdong 360 entered into an amended and restated exclusive purchase option agreement in replacement of the previous exclusive purchase option agreements. Pursuant to the amended and restated exclusive purchase option agreement, the shareholders of Jingdong 360 irrevocably grant Jingdong Century an exclusive option to purchase or have its designated persons to purchase at its discretion, to the extent permitted under PRC law, all or part of their equity interests in Jingdong 360. In addition, the purchase price should equal the amount that the shareholders contributed to Jingdong 360 as registered capital for the equity interest to be purchased, or be the lowest price permitted by applicable PRC law. Without the prior written consent of Jingdong Century, Jingdong 360 may not amend its articles of associate, increase or decrease the registered capital, sell or otherwise dispose of its assets or beneficial interest, create or allow any encumbrance on its assets or other beneficial interests, provide any loans for any third parties, enter into any material contract with a value of more than RMB100,000 (US$16,519) (except those contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business), merge with or acquire any other persons or make any investments, or distribute dividends to the shareholders. The shareholders of Jingdong 360 agree that, without the prior written consent of Jingdong Century, they will not dispose of their equity interests in Jingdong 360 or create or allow any encumbrance on the equity interests. The initial term of the amended and restated exclusive purchase option agreement is 10 years and can be renewed for an additional 10 years on the same terms at Jingdong Century's option, for an unlimited number of times.
On December 18, 2013, Jingdong Century, Jiangsu Yuanzhou and the shareholders of Jiangsu Yuanzhou entered into an amended and restated exclusive purchase option agreement in replacement of the previous exclusive purchase option agreement. The amended and restated exclusive purchase option agreement contains terms substantially similar to the amended and restated exclusive purchase option agreement relating to Jingdong 360 described above.
Loan Agreements. Pursuant to the amended and restated loan agreement dated December 25, 2013 between Jingdong Century and the shareholders of Jingdong 360, Jingdong Century made loans in an aggregate amount of RMB22 million (US$4 million) to the shareholders of Jingdong 360 solely for the capitalization of Jingdong 360. Pursuant to the amended and restated loan agreement, the shareholders can only repay the loans by the sale of all their equity interest in Jingdong 360 to Jingdong Century or its designated person. The shareholders must sell all of their equity interests in Jingdong 360 to Jingdong Century or its designated person and pay all of the proceeds from sale of such equity interests or the maximum amount permitted under PRC law to Jingdong Century. In the event that shareholders sell their equity interests to Jingdong Century or its designated person with a price equivalent to or less than the amount of the principal, the loans will be interest free. If the price is higher than the amount of the principal, the excess amount will be paid to Jingdong Century as the loan interest. The maturity date of the loans is on the tenth anniversary of the date when the
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shareholders received the loans and paid the amount as capital contribution to Jingdong 360. The term of the loans will be extended automatically for an additional 10 years, unless Jingdong Century objects, for an unlimited number of times. The loan must be repaid immediately under certain circumstances, including, among others, (i) if the shareholders terminate their services with us, (ii) if any other third party claims against shareholders for an amount more than RMB100,000 (US$16,519) and Jingdong Century has reasonable ground to believe that the shareholders are unable to repay the claimed amount, (iii) if a foreign investor is permitted to hold majority or 100% equity interest in Jingdong 360 and Jingdong Century elects to exercise its exclusive equity purchase option, or (iv) if the loan agreement, relevant equity pledge agreement or exclusive purchase option agreement terminates for cause not attributable to Jingdong Century or is deemed to be invalid by a court.
Pursuant to the amended and restated loan agreement dated December 18, 2013 between Jingdong Century and the shareholders of Jiangsu Yuanzhou, Jingdong Century made loans in an aggregate amount of RMB22 million (US$4 million) to the shareholders of Jiangsu Yuanzhou solely for the capitalization of Jiangsu Yuanzhou. Pursuant to the amended and restated loan agreement contains terms substantially similar to the amended and restated loan agreement relating to Jingdong 360 described above.
In the opinion of Zhong Lun Law Firm, our PRC legal counsel:
However, we have been further advised by our PRC legal counsel that there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of current and future PRC laws, regulations and rules. Accordingly, the PRC regulatory authorities may in the future take a view that is contrary to the above opinion of our PRC legal counsel. We have been further advised by our PRC counsel that if the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure for operating our online retail business do not comply with PRC government restrictions on foreign investment in e-commerce and related businesses, including but not limited to online retail businesses, we could be subject to severe penalties including being prohibited from continuing operations. See "Risk FactorsRisks Related to Our Corporate StructureIf the PRC government deems that the contractual arrangements in relation to Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou do not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations." and "Risk FactorsRisks Related to Doing Business in ChinaUncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could adversely affect us."
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The following tables set forth certain unaudited consolidated statement of operations data and selected operating data for the three months ended March 31, 2014, compared to certain unaudited consolidated statement of operations data and selected operating data for the three months ended March 31, 2013, and certain unaudited consolidated balance sheet data as of March 31, 2014, compared to certain consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2013. These unaudited consolidated statement of operations data and unaudited consolidated balance sheet data reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal and recurring adjustments, which we consider necessary for a fair statement of our financial position and operating results for the periods presented. Results for the first quarter of 2014 may not be indicative of our full year results for the year ending December 31, 2014 or future quarterly periods. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" included elsewhere in this prospectus for information regarding trends and other factors, including seasonality, that may influence our results of operations and for recent quarterly operating results.
|
For the Three Months Ended | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
March 31, 2013 |
March 31, 2014 |
|||||
|
(in RMB millions) |
||||||
Summary Consolidated Statement of Operations Data: |
|||||||
Net revenues: |
|||||||
Online direct sales |
13,322 | 21,781 | |||||
Services and others |
403 | 876 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Total net revenues |
13,725 | 22,657 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Operating expenses: |
|||||||
Cost of revenues |
(12,250 | ) | (20,396 | ) | |||
Fulfillment |
(845 | ) | (1,360 | ) | |||
Marketing |
(262 | ) | (594 | ) | |||
Technology and content |
(219 | ) | (285 | ) | |||
General and administrative |
(151 | ) | (3,874 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | |
Total operating expenses |
(13,727 | ) | (26,509 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | |
Loss from operations |
(2 | ) | (3,852 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | |
Other income/(expenses) |
|||||||
Interest income |
40 | 98 | |||||
Interest expense |
(4 | ) | (5 | ) | |||
Others, net |
(20 | ) | (39 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | |
Income/(loss) before tax |
14 | (3,798 | ) | ||||
Income tax benefit/(expense) |
(1 | ) | 3 | ||||
Net income/(loss) |
13 | (3,795 | ) | ||||
| | | | | | | |
Preferred shares redemption value accretion |
(965 | ) | (1,494 | ) | |||
Net loss attributable to holders of permanent equity securities |
(952 | ) | (5,289 | ) | |||
Non-GAAP Financial Measures:(1) |
|||||||
Adjusted net income/(loss) |
82 | (81 | ) | ||||
Free cash flow |
526 | 275 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
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Adjusted net income/(loss) for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2014 is calculated as follows:
|
For the Three Months Ended | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
March 31, 2013 |
March 31, 2014 |
|||||
|
(in RMB millions) |
||||||
Reconciliation of Net Income/(Loss) to Adjusted Net Income/(Loss): |
|||||||
Net income/(loss) |
13 | (3,795 | ) | ||||
Share-based compensation |
65 | 3,699 | |||||
Amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions and asset acquisition |
3 | 15 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Adjusted net income/(loss) (Non-GAAP) |
82 | (81 | ) | ||||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Free cash flow for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2014 is calculated as follows:
|
For the Three Months Ended | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
March 31, 2013 |
March 31, 2014 |
|||||
|
(in RMB millions) |
||||||
Reconciliation of Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Free Cash Flow: |
|||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities |
784 | 908 | |||||
Capital expenditures: |
|||||||
Purchases of property, equipment and software |
63 | 166 | |||||
Cash paid for construction in process |
190 | 169 | |||||
Purchase of intangible assets |
5 | 1 | |||||
Purchase of office building |
| 191 | |||||
Purchase of land use rights |
| 106 | |||||
Total capital expenditures |
258 | 633 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Free cash flow (Non-GAAP) |
526 | 275 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Our total net revenues increased by 65.1% in the three months ended March 31, 2014 as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2013. The increase in our total net revenues was primarily due to the growth in our active customer accounts from 16.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2013 to 33.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2014 and the growth in the number of orders we fulfilled from approximately 57.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2013 to 129.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2014. We increased the number of SKUs offered from approximately 9.1 million as of March 31, 2013 to approximately 40.2 million as of March 31, 2014, including major increases in both SKUs that we offered directly and SKUs that were offered on our online marketplace. Revenues from online direct sales increased by 63.5%, and revenues from services and others increased by 117.5% in the three months ended March 31, 2014 as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2013, with the higher rate of increase in revenues from services and others reflecting the rapid growth in our online marketplace.
Our total operating expenses increased by 93.1% in the three months ended March 31, 2014 as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2013. The difference between the rate of increase in our total net revenues and the rate of increase in our total operating expenses was due mostly to general and administrative share-based compensation expenses of RMB3,670 million (US$606 million) that we incurred in the three months ended March 31, 2014. These share-based compensation expenses were incurred primarily in connection with our grant in March 2014 of 93,780,970 immediately vested restricted share units to Mr. Richard Qiangdong Liu, our founder, chairman and chief executive officer. In the three months ended March 31, 2014, our cost of revenues increased by 66.5% and our fulfillment costs increased by 61.1% compared to the three months ended March 31, 2013, both in line with our increase in total net revenues. Our marketing expenses increased by 126.5% between these two periods, driven by increased brand advertising and other marketing activities, including television
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commercials during the Chinese Spring Festival in 2014. Our technology and content expenses increased by 30.4% between these two periods as we increased the headcount of our technology employees to improve our technology platform and as we continued to benefit from economies of scale.
The following table presents certain unaudited consolidated balance sheet data as of the dates indicated:
|
As of December 31, 2013 |
As of March 31, 2014 |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
(in RMB millions) |
||||||
Summary Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: |
|||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
10,812 | 13,338 | |||||
Restricted cash |
1,887 | 3,326 | |||||
Short-term investments |
1,903 | 1,502 | |||||
Inventories, net |
6,386 | 8,616 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Total assets |
26,010 | 43,003 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Short-term bank loans |
933 | 2,842 | |||||
Accounts payable |
11,019 | 13,444 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Total liabilities |
16,770 | 22,185 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Total mezzanine equity |
7,173 | 8,667 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
Total shareholders' equity |
2,067 | 12,151 | |||||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
The following table presents selected operating data for the periods indicated:
|
For the Three Months Ended | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
March 31, 2013 |
March 31, 2014 |
|||||
Selected Operating Data: |
|||||||
Active customer accounts(1) (in millions) |
16.6 | 33.4 | |||||
Orders fulfilled(2) (in millions) |
57.6 | 129.3 | |||||
GMV(3) (in RMB billions) |
24.0 | 44.1 | |||||
Net GMV(4) (in RMB billions) |
19.8 | 35.9 |
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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
The following selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013, selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and selected consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2010, selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2009 and 2010 and selected consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2010 have been derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements not included in this prospectus. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
You should read this section together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of results expected for future periods.
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||
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|
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
|||||||||||||
|
(in millions, except for share, per share and per ADS data) |
||||||||||||||||||
Selected Consolidated Statement of Operations Data: |
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Net revenues: |
|||||||||||||||||||
Online direct sales |
2,906 | 8,566 | 20,888 | 40,335 | 67,018 | 11,071 | |||||||||||||
Services and others |
13 | 17 | 241 | 1,046 | 2,322 | 383 | |||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total net revenues |
2,919 | 8,583 | 21,129 | 41,381 | 69,340 | 11,454 | |||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Operating expenses(1): |
|||||||||||||||||||
Cost of revenues |
(2,779 | ) | (8,169 | ) | (19,977 | ) | (37,898 | ) | (62,496 | ) | (10,323 | ) | |||||||
Fulfillment |
(144 | ) | (477 | ) | (1,515 | ) | (3,061 | ) | (4,109 | ) | (679 | ) | |||||||
Marketing |
(43 | ) | (200 | ) | (479 | ) | (1,097 | ) | (1,590 | ) | (263 | ) | |||||||
Technology and content |
(14 | ) | (47 | ) | (240 | ) | (636 | ) | (964 | ) | (159 | ) | |||||||
General and administrative |
(42 | ) | (106 | ) | (322 | ) | (640 | ) | (760 | ) | (126 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total operating expenses |
(3,022 | ) | (8,999 | ) | (22,533 | ) | (43,332 | ) | (69,919 | ) | (11,550 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Loss from operations |
(103 | ) | (416 | ) | (1,404 | ) | (1,951 | ) | (579 | ) | (96 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Other income/(expense): |
|||||||||||||||||||
Interest income |
1 | 2 | 56 | 176 | 344 | 57 | |||||||||||||
Interest expense |
| | | (8 | ) | (8 | ) | (1 | ) | ||||||||||
Others, net |
(1 | ) | 2 | 64 | 60 | 193 | 32 | ||||||||||||
Loss before tax |
(103 | ) | (412 | ) | (1,284 | ) | (1,723 | ) | (50 | ) | (8 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Income tax expense |
| | | (6 | ) | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss |
(103 | ) | (412 | ) | (1,284 | ) | (1,729 | ) | (50 | ) | (8 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Preferred shares redemption value accretion |
(110 | ) | (457 | ) | (1,660 | ) | (1,588 | ) | (2,435 | ) | (402 | ) | |||||||
Deemed dividend at modification of Series A and A-1 preferred shares |
(74 | ) | | | | | | ||||||||||||
Deemed dividend at extinguishment of Series A-1 preferred shares and issuance of Series C preferred shares |
| (235 | ) | | | | | ||||||||||||
Deemed dividend at extinguishment of Series B preferred shares and issuance of Series C preferred shares |
| (57 | ) | | | | | ||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss attributable to holders of permanent equity securities |
(287 | ) | (1,161 | ) | (2,944 | ) | (3,317 | ) | (2,485 | ) | (410 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
89
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
|||||||||||||
|
(in millions, except for share, per share and per ADS data) |
||||||||||||||||||
Net loss per share of permanent equity securities |
|||||||||||||||||||
Basic |
(0.75 | ) | (1.36 | ) | (2.23 | ) | (2.18 | ) | (1.47 | ) | (0.24 | ) | |||||||
Diluted |
(0.75 | ) | (1.36 | ) | (2.23 | ) | (2.18 | ) | (1.47 | ) | (0.24 | ) | |||||||
Net loss per ADS(2) |
|||||||||||||||||||
Basic |
(1.51 | ) | (2.71 | ) | (4.45 | ) | (4.35 | ) | (2.93 | ) | (0.48 | ) | |||||||
Diluted |
(1.51 | ) | (2.71 | ) | (4.45 | ) | (4.35 | ) | (2.93 | ) | (0.48 | ) | |||||||
Weighted average shares outstanding:(3) |
|||||||||||||||||||
Basic |
380,536,970 | 855,845,500 | 1,322,840,034 | 1,523,639,783 | 1,694,495,048 | 1,694,495,048 | |||||||||||||
Diluted |
380,536,970 | 855,845,500 | 1,322,840,034 | 1,523,639,783 | 1,694,495,048 | 1,694,495,048 |
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | ||||||||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
||||||||||||||
|
(in millions) |
|||||||||||||||||||
Fulfillment |
(3 | ) | (7 | ) | (38 | ) | (78 | ) | (81 | ) | (13 | ) | ||||||||
Marketing |
(0 | ) | (1 | ) | (6 | ) | (9 | ) | (9 | ) | (1 | ) | ||||||||
Technology and content |
(0 | ) | (0 | ) | (1 | ) | (25 | ) | (33 | ) | (5 | ) | ||||||||
General and administrative |
(14 | ) | (4 | ) | (26 | ) | (113 | ) | (138 | ) | (23 | ) |
|
As of December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
RMB |
US$ |
RMB |
US$ |
|||||||||||||||||||||
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(in millions, except for share data) |
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Pro Forma(1) |
Pro Forma As Adjusted |
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(Unaudited) |
(Unaudited)(2) |
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Selected Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
124 | 870 | 6,289 | 7,177 | 10,812 | 1,786 | 10,812 | 1,786 | 27,366 | 4,521 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Restricted cash |
| 265 | 290 | 1,920 | 1,887 | 312 | 1,887 | 312 | 1,887 | 312 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Short-term investments |
| | | 1,080 | 1,903 | 314 | 1,903 | 314 | 1,903 | 314 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Inventories, net |
228 | 1,079 | 2,764 | 4,754 | 6,386 | 1,055 | 6,386 | 1,055 | 6,386 | 1,055 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Total assets |
438 | 2,540 | 10,579 | 17,886 | 26,010 | 4,297 | 26,010 | 4,297 | 53,259 | 8,798 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Accounts payable |
367 | 1,216 | 3,636 | 8,097 | 11,019 | 1,820 | 11,019 | 1,820 | 11,028 | 1,822 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Total liabilities |
426 | 1,482 | 4,645 | 11,483 | 16,770 | 2,771 | 16,770 | 2,771 | 16,902 | 2,792 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Total mezzanine equity |
409 | 1,489 | 3,150 | 4,738 | 7,173 | 1,185 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||
Total shareholders' (deficit)/equity |
(397 | ) | (431 | ) | 2,784 | 1,665 | 2,067 | 341 | 9,240 | 1,526 | 36,357 | 6,006 | |||||||||||||||||||
Number of outstanding permanent equity securities |
397,182,805 | 1,154,481,855 | 1,439,470,960 | 1,597,137,250 | 1,715,087,336 | 1,715,087,336 | 1,973,403,641 | 1,973,403,641 | 2,694,892,688 | 2,694,892,688 |
90
|
For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||||||
|
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
RMB |
US$ |
|||||||||||||
|
(in millions) |
||||||||||||||||||
Selected Consolidated Cash Flow Data: |
|||||||||||||||||||
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities |
25 | (592 | ) | (86 | ) | 1,404 | 3,570 | 589 | |||||||||||
Net cash used in investing activities |
(31 | ) | (107 | ) | (624 | ) | (3,369 | ) | (2,671 | ) | (441 | ) | |||||||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
109 | 1,460 | 6,237 | 2,854 | 2,795 | 462 | |||||||||||||
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents |
(0 | ) | (15 | ) | (108 | ) | (1 | ) | (59 | ) | (10 | ) | |||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents |
103 | 746 | 5,419 | 888 | 3,635 | 600 | |||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year |
21 | 124 | 870 | 6,289 | 7,177 | 1,186 | |||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year |
124 | 870 | 6,289 | 7,177 | 10,812 | 1,786 | |||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
91
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion contains forward-looking statements about our business and operations. Our actual results may differ materially from those we currently anticipate as a result of many factors, including those we describe under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in this prospectus. See "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements".
Overview
We are the largest online direct sales company in China in terms of transaction volume in 2013, with a market share in China of 46.5%, according to iResearch. Our GMV increased from RMB32.7 billion in 2011 to RMB73.3 billion in 2012 and RMB125.5 billion (US$20.7 billion) in 2013.
Our primary business model is online direct sales, where we acquire products from suppliers and sell them directly to our customers through our website and mobile applications. We introduced an online marketplace in October 2010 to broaden our selection of products and further enrich customer experience. In our online marketplace business, third-party sellers sell products to customers through our website and mobile applications and these sellers may also use our fulfillment and other value-added services. We have also begun to offer other services such as advertising, transaction processing and internet financing.
Our business has grown substantially in recent years. The number of products we offer has grown from approximately 1.5 million SKUs as of December 31, 2011 to approximately 7.2 million SKUs as of December 31, 2012 to approximately 25.7 million as of December 31, 2013 and further to approximately 40.2 million as of March 31, 2014. We had 12.5 million, 29.3 million and 47.4 million active customer accounts and fulfilled approximately 65.9 million, 193.8 million and 323.3 million orders in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Our total net revenues increased from RMB21.1 billion in 2011 to RMB41.4 billion in 2012 and RMB69.3 billion (US$11.5 billion) in 2013. We had net losses of RMB1.3 billion, RMB1.7 billion and RMB0.05 billion (US$8 million) in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.
Due to the PRC legal restrictions on foreign ownership of companies that engage in a value-added telecommunications service business or the distribution of media products in China, we conduct the relevant parts of our operations through two consolidated variable interest entities, Jingdong 360 and Jiangsu Yuanzhou. We have contractual arrangements with these entities and their shareholders that enable us to effectively control and receive substantially all of the economic benefits from the entities. Accordingly, we consolidate the results of these entities in our financial statements