Chinese Insurance Giant Ping An’s Blockchain Arm Reveals Terms for $468M IPO

OneConnect Financial Technology, the blockchain and AI subsidiary of China’s top insurance company Ping An Insurance, has set the terms for its previously announced initial public offering (IPO).

According to an updated F-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, the firm aims to raise between $432 million and $504 million via the offering of 36 million American depositary shares (ADSs) at a price of between $12 and $14. Each ADS represents three ordinary shares.

The target raise is much higher than when the firm’s prospectus was first filed in mid November, when a figure of $100 million was proposed.

OneConnect plans to list on the NYSE with the ticker “OCFT” on Dec. 12, according to Nasdaq. The IPO’s underwriters include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, HSBC and Bank of America.

The filing values the company at around $4.7–4.9 billion, down from a $7.5 billion valuation at the time of its last fundraise – a round backed by Japanese private equity giant SoftBank.

OneConnect reported revenue of $222 million and an operating loss of $160 million for the first nine months of 2019, according to Nasdaq.

Reuters reported in September that the firm had been seeking to go public in Hong Kong with a $1 billion target, but shifted to the U.S. hoping to raise a higher amount. It now seems OneConnect has settled for half that amount, if the report was correct.