9f Group, a China-based online lending marketplace backed by quantitative trading and technology firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG), filed for a $150m initial public offering on Thursday.
The company plans to float on either the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market. It has not yet set a price range or determined how many American Depositary Shares it will issue.
Founded in 2006, 9f operates a peer-to-peer lending marketplace for consumers, with the loans supplied by both private investors and institutional partners. The platform also offers securities trading and big data analytics functionalities.
The company had 76.7 million registered users as of March this year, 7.8 million of which have an approved credit limit. Its outstanding loan balance totalled $8.2bn at the time.
9f most recently received $20m in series E funding from SBI Hong Kong Holdings, a subsidiary of financial services firm SBI, in November 2018, the company revealed in the filing. Famous Group and Plentiful International had previously supplied it with $65m in series D capital in June 2018.
JAS Investment Group provided $53.5m for a series C round in November 2017, after Cinda International Holding, a subsidiary of merchant bank China Cinda Asset Management, had led a $30m series B round four months earlier.
The series B round – described as a series C consisting of “hundreds of millions of dollars” at the time – also featured an unspecified local industry fund and various private investors according to media reports.
SIG Asia, a regional investment vehicle for SIG, co-led a $110m funding round for 9f in 2015 with IDG Capital that included unspecified VC firms and private investors. The company raised $1.6m in a 2006 angel round and added $3m in series A capital from an unnamed public company in 2009.
Lei Sun, chairman and chief executive of 9f, is the company’s largest shareholder with a 39.1% stake he owns through a trust called Nine F Capital. Yifan Ren, one of 9f’s co-founders, holds a 23.3% stake through a vehicle dubbed Nine Fortune.
Company director Changxing Xiao owns 7.4% through investment vehicle DFM Capital, while JAS Investment holds a 5.7% stake.
Credit Suisse, Haitong International and 9f Primasia Securities have been appointed as joint bookrunners for the IPO.
