Weidai, a China-based business lending platform backed by corporates Hakim Unique, Shanda Interactive and Dong Yi Ri Sheng, has gone public in the US in a $45m initial public offering
The company issued 4.5 million American depositary shares (ADSs) on the New York Stock Exchange priced at $10.00 each, in the middle of the IPO’s $9 to $11 range. It initially filed to raise up to $100m in August this year.
Weidai operates a lending platform for small and medium-sized businesses that takes automotive title loans as collateral. It made a $46.4m net profit from almost $285m in revenue in the first half of this year.
Online game publisher Shanda reportedly invested RMB100m ($16.3m at contemporary rates) in Weidai in 2014, before smart city and healthcare technology provider Hakim Unique led the company’s $24m series B round the following year.
Private equity fund Vision Knight Capital subsequently led a $153m series C round for Weidai in May 2016 that also featured home decoration services provider Dong Yi Ri Sheng. Hakim Unique owned a 15.2% stake in Weidai pre-IPO, with founder and CEO Hong Yao holding 73.3% through various vehicles.
The company floated on Thursday last week and its shares closed at $10.15 yesterday afternoon. Underwriters Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets and AMTD Global Markets have the option to buy another 675,000 ADSs to lift the IPO to almost $51.8m.
