[Exclusive] Chinese P2P Lender Lufax Outstrips Ping An Bank With USD39.4 Billion Valuation

YANG QIANWEN

(Yicai Global) March 13 — The latest funding round of Ping An Insurance-backed fintech giant Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange, better know as Lufax, has uplifted its valuation above that of Ping An Bank.

Lufax has raised USD1.3 billion in its Series C funding, an investment banker told Yicai Global. The financing brings the peer-to-peer lending platform’s valuation to USD39.4 billion which is much higher than that of Ping An Bank, the Shenzhen-based parent said in its earnings report for 2018 yesterday.

Ping An Bank’s [SHZ: 000001] stock price was CNY12.36 (USD1.84) per share at the close yesterday, up 0.32 percent, and its market value totaled CNY212.2 billion (USD31.7 billion).

Against the backdrop of a general weakness in international technology stocks, Lufax’s valuation has more than doubled from its previous funding round, and it has caught the eye of international institutions who must believe in its prospects, a market participant close to the deal told Yicai Global.

Lufax actually planned to raise up to USD2 billion in order to bring its valuation to USD40 billion so the outcome is a bit short of that, but the firm has not published this goal, the market participant added.

Investors include well-known international players, such as national sovereign funds, leading private equity funds, and family funds, the above source said. Some of the major ones are Qatar’s sovereign fund Qatar Investment Authority, Hong Kong’s All-Stars Investment, China’s Primavera Capital Group, Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings.

Lufax will use the proceeds for technological innovation, operations and international expansion, the market participant said, adding that the firm will specifically spend it on technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain, as well as improve its service in Singapore.

Founded in 2011, the Shanghai-based unicorn secured USD1.2 billion in financing in January 2016, reaching a valuation of USD18.5 billion. The number of its registered users topped 40 million in late December, up 19 percent annually. Its assets fell 20 percent over the year to CNY369.4 billion, due to changes in the asset management structure.

Other investors in the latest financing round include US-based J.P. Morgan Chase, Australia’s Macquarie Group, Singapore’s United Overseas Bank, a private equity division of Goldman Sachs Group, Japan’s SoftBank Group, Hong Kong-based LionRock Capital, as well as UK’s Hedosophia and Hermitage Capital Management.

Editor: Emmi Laine