Lufax, a China-based online financial services provider backed by insurance provider Ping An Insurance, is looking to raise between $1bn and $2bn in funding, Reuters reported yesterday citing people familiar with the matter.
Several existing shareholders are allegedly looking to sell a total of $30m worth of shares at a $30bn valuation, though none of the investors have been identified.
The company is targeting a valuation of $40bn, potentially putting it neck and neck for one of the top three most valuable private, venture-backed companies in world with WeWork, the co-working spaces provider that is also in talks about a multi-billion-dollar funding round.
Founded in 2011, Lufax launched as a peer-to-peer lending and brokerage subsidiary of Ping An but has since grown into a wealth management firm. It had a loan balance of approximately $24.5bn at the end of May 2018, according analytics firm Online Lending House.
Lufax is looking to raise fresh capital amid a delayed initial public offering. The company had hired five underwriters for a listing in Hong Kong by the end of June that would have raised up to $5bn.
The IPO plans were put on hold when regulators decided to formulate new rules around online consumer lending, which remains a core business of Lufax.
A proposal circulated in December 2017 would force firms such as Lufax to be licensed and stop lending to users with no sources of income or a specific reason to borrowing the money.
Lufax previously raised almost $1.22bn in series B funding from investors featuring Ping An, food producer Cofco, Bank of China, Guotai Junan, Minsheng Shangyin International, BlackPine Private Equity Partners, CDH Investments and China International Capital in 2016.
BlackPine, CDH and China International Capital were previously also among the investors to supply $500m in series A funding in 2015.