X Financial, a Chinese P2P lending platform, today filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the US Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC). It seeks to raise US$250 million via a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) IPO, and will trade under the ticker symbol ‘XYF’.
The company recently secured RMB 1 billion (US$147 million) in a Series B financing round. Backers include Shanghai City Holdings and the investment enterprises subsidiary of Bainian Kangcheng Health Management Group, amongst others.
Founded in 2014, X Financial is a fintech startup that provides personal financial services, such as unsecured loans, via a peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platform.
Takeaways
— Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank will be the underwriters for this deal.
—Â X Financial posted US$445 million in revenue for the year ended 30 June 2018 and is set to be the next Chinese P2P lending platform operator to list in the US, following the steps of Weidai, a Chinese competitor, which is said to be seeking US$100 million on NASDAQ in an upcoming IPO.
—Â X Financial’s IPO might have trouble to convince investors, because of the slew of bad news coming out of the Chinese P2P lending sector recently. Default rates have reportedly been soaring and the government closed down a number of illegitimate lending platforms.
