Tencent-backed online brokerage firm Futu Securities International announced the terms for its US initial public offering (IPO) to 10.9 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at $10-12 apiece.
The Hong Kong-based online brokerage firm had set a $500-million fundraising target when it first filed its IPO application in December.
If the company prices its IPO in the middle, it would have a fully diluted market value of $1.3 billion. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “FHL” and has hired Goldman Sachs, UBS Securities, and Credit Suisse Securities to work on the US float.
“We plan to use the net proceeds of this offering for general corporate purposes, including research and development, working capital needs, and increased regulatory capital requirements of the HK SFC and regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions as a result of our business expansion,” the company said.
In its filing, Futu said Tencent, through its affiliates, has indicated an interest in purchasing up to $30 million of the ADS representing Class A ordinary shares on the same terms as the other ADS being offered.
Tencent has been a principal shareholder of Futu since October 2014. The Chinese technology giant also led a $146-million Series C round for the brokerage firm in 2017 in a deal that valued the firm at over $1 billion.
Aside from Tencent, Futu, which allows investors to primarily trade stocks in Hong Kong and the United States, also counts venture capital firms Sequoia Capital China and Matrix Partners China among its backers.
The company provides investment services through its proprietary digital platform, Futu NiuNiu, accessible through any mobile device, tablet or desktop.
Its primary fee-generating services include trade execution and margin financing, which allow clients to trade securities, such as stocks, warrants, options, and exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, across different markets.
For the six months ended June 30, 2018, the company brokered HK$478.2 billion ($61.1 billion) in client trades, underlying a brokerage revenue base which ranked fourth among Hong Kong online retail brokers, according to Oliver Wyman.
It also claims to have a growing user base of 5.3 million, over 457,000 registered clients — defined as users who have opened trading accounts with Futu — and over 124,000 paying clients as of September 30, 2018.
Among global markets, Hong Kong is the world’s fourth largest online securities market, with annual trading volume growing from $404.5 billion in 2012 to $1.6 trillion in 2017, representing a CAGR of 31.3 per cent. The trading volume is expected to reach $3.1 trillion in 2022, according to a report cited by Futu.
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