Online retailer Newegg is seeking to raise up to $175 million in ...

next 12 months to increase its operations in the countries. Fred Chang, who owns 77 percent of the company, was named president of the China business. The company’s revenue from China increased to $54.4 million in the first half of 2009 from $12.7 million a year earlier, Newegg said. IPO proceeds also will be used to repay a $7.5 million bank loan due in October 2010 and guaranteed by Chang. Newegg, which expects to open an Asian headquarters in China in Q1 2010, has 1,096 employees there, including 388 working on its e-commerce site, the company said. It bought land rights in Jiading, near Shanghai, for $3.2 million and expects to spend $10 million on the new office and related buildings, the company said. The Chinese Web site carries 12,600 PC- and CE-related products and processed 3,600 orders a day the three months through June, the company said. In Canada, Newegg will open a 55,000-square-foot office in October in Mississauga, it said. The new locations in Canada and China will double as fulfillment centers, supplementing ones in California and New Jersey, Newegg said. Newegg carries about 33,000 SKUs on its U.S. Web site, it said. Newegg, which had 12 million registered users June 30, launched in 2001 as a retailer of PC-related products. But it has broadened its assortment of CE devices, sales of which rose to $117.8 million in first half 2009 from $96.1 million a year ago. The company’s net income improved $15.7 million in the first half of 2009 from $13 million a year earlier as revenue rose to $1.1 billion from $1.02 billion. Newegg’s North American sales increased to $1.05 billion from $1.02 billion. In 2008, Newegg’s net income grew $28.8 million from $18.6 million as sales increased to $2.1 billion from $1.8 billion the previous year.