What is going on with Chinese ecommerce site Wowo’s long-delayed IPO?

Chinese ecommerce and daily deals site Wowo (also known as 55tuan) is having a bit of a bumpy ride on its way to the US market. Wowo has been planning a US IPO for some time now, and was originally scheduled to list on the NASDAQ under the tag WOWO back in February. But that date came and went without an IPO. So did a subsequent date in March. Now, the company is reportedly scheduled for an April 1 IPO. But there are signs that might not come off either.

To begin with, Wowo’s SEC filings indicate that an April IPO might violate agreements it previously made with shareholders. In its March 4th prospectus amendment filing, Wowo indicates that one of the conditions it agreed to with shareholders for this IPO was that the IPO “be completed prior to March 31, 2015.” Wowo’s subsequent March 30 amendment of the document contains that same condition: “the offering must be completed prior to March 31, 2015.”

Given that, it’s possible that Wowo will need agree on a new timeframe with its shareholders before launching its IPO. As of this writing no updated prospectus has been filed, so that seems unlikely to happen before April 1.

There are other signs that the April 1 IPO isn’t happening. Wowo’s latest SEC filing sets the listing date for “as soon as practicable” rather than specifying April 1, and on the NASDAQ official site Wowo is not listed among this week’s coming IPOs. Most of the outlets reporting the April 1 date have specified that it is a “best efforts” timeframe.

Do not be surprised if April Fool’s Day comes and goes without a Wowo NASDAQ listing.

At this point, whether or not the April 1 IPO actually goes through, it’s hard to imagine investors being too excited about the offering after so many missed launch dates. China’s tech press is already wondering whether the company’s less-than-stellar reputation is related to its IPO troubles, and there are questions about the company’s business model. Wowo says it has more than 34 million subscribers and covers 150 Chinese cities, but the daily deals model it was built on has lost popularity in China, and the company’s pivot towards traditional ecommerce is limited by the much bigger players already dominating that space.

Wowo has been pushing for an IPO for a long time now, and it seems unlikely the company will abandon its plans altogether. But in the face of yet another possible missed date on Wednesday, it looks like Wowo’s bumpy ride to the NASDAQ isn’t about to end just yet.