LexinFintech Climbs After Raising $108 Million in Downsized IPO
LexinFintech Is Said to Raise $108 Million in Downsized U.S. IPO
(Bloomberg) -- LexinFintech Holdings Ltd., the owner of Chinese online lending platform Fenqile, climbed in its trading debut after downsizing its U.S. initial public offering and pricing shares at the bottom of a marketed range.
The stock jumped as much as 65 percent in New York and was trading up 39 percent to $12.50 at 10:54 a.m. LexinFintech raised $108 million after pricing 12 million American depositary shares at $9 apiece, according to a statement Thursday. The company last month filed for an IPO with an initial $500 million fundraising target, a placeholder amount used to calculate registration fees.
LexinFintech has had to contend with investor concerns about China’s online lending industry after the country stepped up a campaign to reduce risk in its $40 trillion financial-services sector. The company this month amended risk factors in its IPO filing to reflect changes it made to comply with new regulations.
Shares of U.S.-listed Chinese online lenders Qudian Inc. and PPDAI Group Inc. have fallen more than 45 percent since they started trading this year. LexinFintech’s offering adds to the $3.8 billion Chinese companies have raised through first-time share sales in the U.S. this year, compared with $2.1 billion during the same period in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Other Chinese fintech firms have plans to list in the U.S. Online lenders 9F Group and Yangqianguan are each aiming to raise about $300 million through offerings, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier. Credit ratings generator Quant and personal finance app operator Wacai have picked banks to advise on U.S. deals, different people familiar with the matter said earlier.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. Deutsche Bank AG and China Renaissance Partners led the IPO. Shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker LX.
To contact the reporter on this story: Crystal Tse in Hong Kong at ctse44@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Timothy Sifert, Paul Panckhurst
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