China invents a competitor for Jack Ma’s Chinese Ant?
Chinese payments group LianLian (with public partners) is seeking 1.5 billion yuan in pre-IPO financing. Jack Ma's Ant Group rival, whose IPO was blocked by Chinese regulators in 2020, is aiming for double listing in Hong Kong and mainland China
After the storm that engulfed Ant Group, the fintech arm controlled by the Chinese giant Alibaba founded by Jack Ma , the rival group LianLian is aiming for double listing in Hong Kong and mainland China.
According to Bloomberg , LianLian DigiTech is in talks to raise up to 1.5 billion yuan ($ 223 million) ahead of an initial public offering in Hong Kong next year, people familiar with the matter say.
Discussions are ongoing and preparations for listing are at an early stage, so details are subject to change, Bloomberg sources say.
But the plans of Ant Group's rival point to Beijing easing its grip on tech and fintech companies.
In November 2020, Chinese regulators halted Ant Group's record $ 35 billion initial public offering. The double listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai would have been the largest IPO in history . Not only that, authorities have ordered the fintech unit of the company founded by billionaire Jack Ma to review its operations.
All the details.
WHAT IS LIANLIAN
Founded in 2009, LianLian specializes in cross-border payments to over a million e-commerce merchants, according to its website. The company offers its payment services to e-commerce giants including Amazon.com and Sea Ltd.'s Shopee.
The Hangzhou-based startup is currently valued at around 16 billion yuan, according to Bloomberg sources.
The company claims it has handled more than 5.5 trillion yuan in transactions since its founding in 2009.
PARTNER OF THE AMERICAN AMERICAN EXPRESS
LianLian also boasts a partnership with the American credit card giant American Express. In 2020, "Amex claimed to be the first foreign network to be given the green light to manage payment transactions in mainland China," Class reported.
The authorization to launch the payment network in China followed the establishment of a 50/50 joint venture with the financial services company LianLian DigiTech.
RIVAL OF UNIONPAY, ALIPAY AND WECHAT
Meanwhile, LianLian has expanded into Southeast Asia, Ireland and Brazil, according to the company's website. In China, the company competes with much larger rivals, including the state-backed UnionPay network and apps run by Ant (Alipay) and Tencent (WeChat).
THE INVESTORS OF LIANLIAN
Investors include major names such as Sequoia Capital China, Boyu Capital and China Everbright Industries Group Ltd.
THE PARTNERS
The shareholders of the Chinese group include : the public Cicc Capital (China International Capital Corporation), Hangzhou Dongfang Jiafu Asset Management, ZJKF Capital Management, ZJVC Venture Capital and Taikang Insurance Group Company.
WORKING ON THE NEXT FINANCING ROUND
According to Bloomberg sources, LianLian is working with China International Capital Corp. on the funding round. Investment vehicles under the Zhejiang provincial government and a venture capital branch of China Mobile Ltd. have expressed interest in participating, one of the people said.
THE EVALUATION
The fundraiser is likely to bring LianLian's valuation to around 20 billion yuan, says the person close to the dossier.
LIANLIAN TOWARDS THE IPO?
Once the new investors are on board, LianLian plans to land in Hong Kong with an IPO next year, followed by a listing in mainland China.
In 2021, LianLian unveiled pre-listing support documents approved by the Cicc, a leading Chinese investment bank, and China's market regulators, revealing the very first preparations for an IPO, although it's unclear why. Bloomberg recalls that the payment company did not proceed with the listing.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ANT GROUP RIVAL
But we must take a step back.
In fact, in 2020, Chinese regulators stunned the financial markets when they stopped Ant's highly anticipated IPO, just days before its shares began trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The fintech company controlled by e-commerce giant Alibaba founded by Jack Ma aimed to raise $ 35 billion. The IPO would have been the largest ever.
This triggered a crackdown that engulfed most of the country's internet sector . Months after Ant terminated its IPO, JD.com Inc. founder Richard Liu's fintech unit also withdrew his listing application from China's Star Market, Bloomberg reports.
LianLian's IPO could usher in a new course for Chinese Internet companies aiming to go public after the crackdown on Ant.
THE COMMENT OF BLOOMBERG
“LianLian's fundraising talks show that investors haven't ruled out fintech as a promising area, despite the crackdown on Ant and the intensified scrutiny of online financial services run by the likes of Tencent Holdings Ltd. Regulators Chinese financials have initiated discussions early on about a potential revival of Ant's listing, Bloomberg News reported, one of the clearest signals that authorities are cracking down on a crackdown on the industry.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/la-cina-inventa-un-concorrente-per-la-cinese-ant-di-jack-ma/ on Wed, 13 Jul 2022 10:23:33 +0000.