PayEase, the Beijing-based payment processor for Apple, is considering listing its shares in Taiwan as the company prepares to expand into cross-border yuan services.
Executives have met underwriters at Taipei-based KGI Securities, Yuanta Financial and Fubon Financial, spokesman Kevin Yim said. An initial public offering might come next year, at the earliest, and no decision had been made on whether to proceed, he said.
"The payment industry has just started in Taiwan so we can educate the regulators here and we can also help a lot of the Taiwanese merchants," Yim said, adding that PayEase was "considering which market gives us the best valuation and also strategic advantage for promoting our cross-border licence".
PayEase was also looking at Singapore, America's Nasdaq and Hong Kong, and had spoken with international brokers including JP Morgan Chase, he said.
Taiwan's smaller liquidity, higher ratio of individual to institutional investors, and regulatory environment might weigh against its choice as a listing destination, Yim said.