Tom.com: Valuation of an Asian Internet Company

The Internet investment craze was starting to catch on in Hong Kong. Tom.com Limited, a Hong Kong based Internet company, was planning an initial public offering at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. A portfolio manager for EuroGlobal Funds was to provide his professional opinion on the value of this investment and its appropriateness for different investors. He was aware of the difficulties in valuing Internet companies and the debate over the choice of valuation methods. Among these, one approach was to analyze the implied hyper-growth rate that Internet companies had to achieve in the next five years in order to justify their current valuations. He decided to apply this approach to Tom.com. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the different valuation methods and the development of Internet and e-commerce companies, especially topics such as business models and expected growth.