SoftBank-backed OneConnect set to raise $312 mln in U.S. IPO - source (updated)
13/12/2019 01:02
(Updates number of sources, adds detail on IPO)
By Joshua Franklin and Scott Murdoch
NEW YORK/SYDNEY, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Ping An Insurance Co's
2318.HK OneConnect Financial Technology OCFT.K is set to
raise around $312 million in its U.S. initial public offering on
Thursday, according to two people familiar with the matter.
OneConnect is selling around 31.2 million American
depositary shares (ADS) at $10. Earlier this month, it had aimed
to sell 36 million ADS at a price between $12 to $14 per share
range but on Wednesday lowered its to $9 to $10 per share and
set a goal of selling 26 million ADS. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N28L40L
A spokesman for OneConnect declined to comment. The sources
requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak about
the deal.
The IPO valued OneConnect at around $3.7 billion, one of the
sources said, well below its $7.5 billion valuation last year
when it raised $750 million in its maiden funding round from
investors including Japan's SoftBank Corp 9434.T and Japanese
financial firm SBI Group.
OneConnect had revenues of 1.55 billion yuan ($220.2
million) in the first nine months of 2019, up 72% from the
year-ago period, but losses widened to 1 billion yuan from 579
million yuan.
In 2019, U.S. investors have been reluctant to back
companies going public with large losses, and shares of
money-losing companies like Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N and
Lyft Inc LYFT.O have struggled since their IPOs.
OneConnect is due to begin trading on Friday on the New York
Exchange under the symbol "OCFT".
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are among the
main banks working on the IPO.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Scott Murdoch; Editing by
Sandra Maler and Richard Chang)
((joshua.franklin@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-6356; Reuters
Messaging: joshua.franklin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))