Consumer finance lender Home Credit shelves US$1 billion Hong Kong IPO
- Company cites ‘market conditions’ while dropping planned Hong Kong listing
- Budweiser, ESR Cayman have revived listings in recent weeks as valuations improved from summer doldrums
Home Credit, a consumer finance lender that counts China as its biggest market, has shelved plans for a US$1 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong.
Several companies, including Budweiser Brewing Company APAC and logistics real-estate developer ESR Cayman, postponed their listings this summer as the crisis intensified, but were able to pursue IPOs in September and October as market sentiment improved.
Home Credit’s parent company, Home Credit Group BV, said in a statement on Thursday that it would not proceed with its Hong Kong IPO “due to market conditions”. Home Credit Group BV is a subsidiary of PPF Financial Holdings.
The company offers point-of-sales loans in shops, often for consumer goods such as televisions. It also offers cash loans and revolving loan products, such as credit cards. Many of its customers took out their first loans via Home Credit.
The Home Credit announcement came as the Hang Seng Index fell 1.5 per cent on Thursday, with all but two of the 50 stocks in the benchmark closing with losses, as worries grew among investors that the US-China trade war could be prolonged.