The size and valuation targets have been reduced for the planned initial public offering for Ping An Insurance’s OneConnect Financial Technology in the U.S. in a rare «down round».
Following a $750 fundraising last year which valued OneConnect at $7.5 billion, the firm’s upcoming U.S. IPO is reportedly expected to generate a lower valuation, also known as a «down round» – a rare occurrence in recent years for tech-related businesses.
OneConnect is expected to launch a New York IPO on Tuesday for $500 million, according to a «Reuters» repot citing unnamed sources, valuing the firm at $4.5-5.5 billion. The switch in exchange was expected to help improve fundraising conditions given the unrest in Hong Kong with expectations of an $8 billion valuation and IPO of up to $1 billion.
Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley were amongst the primary banks involved in the deal, the report added, with share trading expected to commence on December 13.
OneConnect posted revenues of 1.55 billion yuan ($220 million) for the first nine months of 2019, a 72 percent year-on-year increase, but saw losses increase at around the same rate to reach one billion yuan ($140 million).
