FWD Group Holdings is considering holding its long-awaited Hong Kong initial public offering next year, according to a Bloomberg report that cites people familiar with the matter.
FWD’s Hong Kong IPO was scheduled for May, but the insurer decided to shelve the plan due to a weak market. According to the sources, the insurance arm of Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group is looking at a potential share sale as soon as the first quarter of 2023.
The insurer previously sought to raise about US$1 billion (SG$1.4 billion) through the IPO, but the sources said that the final size has yet to be formally decided.
FWD is planning to refile its listing documents by next week, this time including more recent financial details showing its growth in the first half of 2022 despite adverse market conditions, the sources said.
The sources, who requested anonymity due to the matter being private, said that FWD is still in the stages of working out the IPO, so details such as size and timing could still change.
A representative for FWD declined to comment on the matter.
In December, FWD withdrew its plans to hold an IPO in the US, where it planned to raise up to US$3 billion (SG$4.22 billion). The move was abandoned due to US regulators’ increased wariness of Chinese firms. The regulators were still wary from the aftermath of Didi Global’s US IPO, when, just days after the IPO, the Cyberspace Administration of China launched an investigation into ride-hailing company's handling of personal information, tanking its share prices.
According to Bloomberg, FWD is joining several Asian firms, such as Blackstone-backed PAG, that have postponed their IPOs for next year, hoping for more favourable market conditions.
