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ZhongAn IPO Filed in Hong Kong: IPO Values Firm at $1.5 Billion

  • July 1, 2017
  • By Pete Nisbet
  • 0

ZhongAn IPO: ZhongAn Online Property and Casualty Insurance Co Ltd had filed in Hong Kong for an initial public offering. The offering is valued at up to $1.5 billion. The company is the first insurance firm in China to operate only on the internet.

 

According to the Thomson Reuters publication IFR, the company expects to be listed on the stock exchange by the end of this year. Among those currently holding shares in ZhongAn is Tencent Holdings Ltd. Another is Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Ant Financial had been considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong or China.

ZhongAn IPO

Why Was the ZhongAn IPO Filed in Hong Kong?

The reason the ZhongAn IPO was filed in Hong Kong is that the company was uncertain over the timing of the approval to list in China. Apart from listing conditions, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has a list of 18 documents to be presented before approval is given for a listing. The timing relating to all of these IPO conditions created uncertainty within the company and it considered Hong Kong would be better.

 

The company was founded in 2013 by Pony Ma, Tencent chairman and Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba. Also involved was Ma Mingzhe, the chairman of Ping An Insurance group Co of China Ltd. Any Financial currently holds 16% of the company, while Ping An and Tencent each hold 12% of the shares.

ZhongAn Insurance Products

ZhongAn says on its website, and also stated during market presentations, that it has over 300 insurance products to offer and has over 535 million clients involving over 7.56 billion policies. This related to an average of over 14 policies per client. Its major type of insurance relates to the insuring of shipping costs.

 

This type of insurance is said to cover the cost of returning goods to online stores or suppliers. This takes up around half the business of ZhongAn. Next in line of popularity is flight delay insurance, where flight tickets have been purchased online. The ZhongAn IPO is eagerly awaited by potential investors. As stated earlier, shares are hoped to available publicly by the end of the year.

About Pete Nisbet

Pete has been working in the field of website design and content for many years. He has a great interest in technology and current affairs, particularly business affairs. Pete's interests are technology, writing and world affairs and he is widely traveled. Pete also holds an Honors BSc from the University of Edinburgh.