Refile: Chinese online lender Lexinfintech surges in US market debut
21/12/2017 16:04
(Corrects spelling to "depositary" in paragraph 3)
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Chinese online lender Lexinfintech's
shares surged in their U.S. market debut on Thursday, in a sign
that investors were looking past Beijing's recent crackdown on
the booming micro-credit industry.
Shares of Lexinfintech Holdings Ltd LX.O rose as much as
53 percent on the Nasdaq, valuing the Shenzhen-based company at
$4.51 billion.
Its initial public offering was priced at $9 per American
depositary share, at the bottom of a $9 to $11 range, and raised
$108 million.
The company last week slashed the size of the IPO by
two-thirds to a maximum of $151.8 million following the
clampdown on micro-lenders by China's financial regulators.
China is trying to curb the fast yet haphazard growth at the
country's online micro-lenders, unveiling tougher new rules in
recent weeks including a ban on loans to borrowers who have no
source of income.
The industry is booming amid rising Chinese incomes and a
low credit card penetration rate.
Micro-lenders including Qudian QD.N , PPDAI Group PPDF.N
and Jianpu Technology JT.N , all of which recently listed
themselves on U.S. exchanges, saw their shares dip after the
heightened regulation.
Lexinfintech provides loans to educated young adults aged 18
to 36, including loans for online shopping.
Existing Lexinfintech shareholders including K2 Partners and
Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc JD.O have expressed
interest to buy $28 million of its shares at the IPO price,
according to a filing with U.S. regulators.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, China Renaissance, Deutsche
Bank and Goldman Sachs were joint bookrunners on the IPO.
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Shares of Chinese online microlenders fall after govt. crackdown
http://reut.rs/2zb9cr0
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(Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; editing by Sai
Sachin Ravikumar)
((Diptendu.Lahiri@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223
8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6328;; Reuters Messaging:
diptendu.lahiri.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: LEXINFINTECH HOL IPO/