In a bid to capitalise on investor demand for hot tech stocks, particularly in developing nations, Telstra (ASX: TLS) is pushing ahead with its plan to float its Chinese car sales website, autohome.com.cn.
Telstra recently upped its stake in Autohome to 71.5% ahead of the proposed IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the US. Nasdaq is the world's premier exchange for tech stocks, trading some of the biggest companies in world, including Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB).
Autohome is one of Telstra's key growth assets in Asia and part of its international business division, which posted a 16.2% increase in revenue for FY13, year on year. However on its own, the China portfolio increased revenue 73.8% and Telstra said, "Autohome has established a strong digital marketing position in the Chinese automotive market, which is growing rapidly."
The float is likely to value the company between $US500 million and $US1 billion. It will receive attention from investors who want double pronged exposure to growth, in the form technology and the Chinese economy. Australian investors could always grab a slice of the action through buying some shares in Telstra as it seeks to grow its influence in not only China but throughout Asia.
Telstra CEO David Thodey recently said its international division is one of its core growth areas. It has three lines of businesses including CSL New World, Telstra China and Telstra Global. CSL is one of Hong Kong's leading mobile businesses and Telstra grew its number of users by 425,000 last year. Telstra China is driven primarily by Autohome and Telstra Global provides networked data, voice and satellite services to business.
Foolish takeaway
Now is a good time for investors to be taking advantage of Australian companies with exposure to Asia's booming economies. Although much uncertainty looms over Telstra's commitment to the new NBN, it still remains a great 'core' stock for long-term investors.
