More Chinese fintech firms to eye Hong Kong IPOs, says JP Morgan
China’s fintech market could grow to US$69b in revenue by 2020, according to the bank’s projection
More Chinese fintech firms vying to go public could choose Hong Kong as their listing venue, after the city’s first fintech IPO received a hot response from investors, and that Hong Kong has unique advantages compared with other global financial hubs, said JP Morgan’s head of global investment banking in China.
Zhong An Online Property and Casualty Insurance, China’s first online-only insurer, closed nine per cent up from its IPO price on Thursday in its Hong Kong debut. With an oversubscription of nearly 400 times from retail investors, the company had priced its IPO at the top end of the expected range, raising US$1.5 billion in the city’s biggest ever fintech offering.
JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, UBS and CMB International are joint sponsors of the deal.
Houston Huang, head of JP Morgan’s global investment banking in China, expected the IPO to mark the beginning of more fintech companies seeking a listing in Hong Kong.
“A good fintech IPO will have a ‘push effect’ on other Chinese fintech players, prompting them to consider linking with the capital market to raise fund,” he said.
“The next Zhong An could show up in online payment, P2P lending, [financial] product distribution, or online insurance.”
