Ping An-Backed China Wealth Manager Lufax Pursues US IPO

Chinese online wealth management firm Lufax Holding Ltd is seeking an initial public offering in the United States and list American Depositary Shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

What Happened: The Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd PNGAY-backed company has not disclosed the size of the offering but proposed a placeholder amount of $100 million in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The shares would be listed under the symbol “LU.”

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS, Bank of America’s BAC Investment banking arm BofA Securities, UBS Group AG UBS, HSBC Holdings Plc HSBC, and China PA Securities are serving as the lead underwriters for Lufax's IPO. 

The company came into existence in 2011 as a peer-to-peer platform but has been exiting those operations due to regulatory constraints in China, reports Reuters.

It recorded a net profit of $1.07 billion for six months leading up to June 30, compared with $1.01 billion in a similar period a year earlier.

Why It Matters: The listing of the wealth management company comes after the December 2018 listing of OneConnect Financial Tech Co Ltd OCFT, another fintech backed by Ping An that raised $312 million, Reuters noted.

Lufax reportedly postponed its 2018 Hong Kong listing due to prevalent uncertainty over lending regulations in China.

In May, the United States Senate passed new regulations that could lead to the delisting of Chinese companies from domestic exchanges.

Worsening U.S.-China relations mean some companies are pursuing dual listings on the mainland and Hong Kong exchanges. 

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA subsidiary Ant Financial is aiming to raise the world’s largest IPO valued at $35B and plans to simultaneously list on Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges.

Price Action: Ping An OTC shares closed almost 0.3% lower at $20.74 on Wednesday.