AAA Qudian quickens pace to $750m IPO

Qudian quickens pace to $750m IPO

China-based online lending platform Qudian has filed to raise up to $750m in a US initial public offering that will allow corporates Kunlun Tech and Ant Financial to exit.

Founded in 2014 as instalment e-commerce platform Qufenqi, Qudian has built an online consumer lending platform that targets borrowers without the necessary credit data to secure beneficial rates at traditional institutions, and which utilises artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess risk.

The company was responsible for about $5.6bn in transactions in the first six months of 2017, serving roughly 7 million active borrowers. It received approximately $144m in net income from revenues of just over $270m in the same period.

Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce firm Alibaba, owns a 12.8% stake in Qudian, having led its $200m series E round in August 2015, investing alongside venture capital firms BlueRun Ventures and Source Code Capital.

Online game producer Kunlun Tech and investment firm Phoenix Fortune Holdings each own a 19.7% share of Qudian, the former having invested $27m in the company in January 2016 after backing a $100m round in April 2015.

Source Code and Bluerun also invested in the April 2015 round, after the former had led another $100m round at the end of 2014. Source Code holds 16.1% of Qudian’s shares while Bluerun appears to own 7.2%.

Phoenix Fortune co-led a $449m round for the company in July 2016 with app and smart device developer Hangzhou Liaison Interactive Information Technology, which is not listed among the investors with a share of 5% or more in Qudian.

Qufenqi Holding, a vehicle for Qudian’s founder, chairman and CEO Min Luo, is the company’s largest shareholder, and owns a 21.6% stake.

Morgan Stanley International, Credit Suisse Securities (USA), Citigroup Global Markets, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities, UBS Securities, Stifel, Nicolaus and Company, and Needham & Company are the underwriters for the IPO.

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