Ping An’s OneConnect unit cuts the fundraising size in its New York initial public offering by almost half to US$260 million

China-based cloud fintech platform OneConnect Financial Technology cut its planned US initial public offering set for Thursday by almost half.

The company, one of several Ping An Insurance (Group) businesses backed by SoftBank Group, said in a filing Wednesday that it was reducing both the size of the share sale as well as the targeted price range. Instead of raising as much as US$504 million, the listing is now targeting as much as US$260 million.

OneConnect is now planning to sell 26 million shares for US$9 to US$10 each, instead of 36 million for US$12 to US$14 as planned earlier, according to the filing.

OneConnect opted for a New York listing despite US-China tensions. The company earlier considered a Hong Kong listing with a target of raising about US$1 billion at a valuation of about US$8 billion, Bloomberg reported in February.

OneConnect, backed by SoftBank’s Vision Fund, provides technology solutions that help increase revenue and manage risks for small and midsize financial institutions in China.

SoftBank has placed bets on companies under the state-linked insurer Ping An, as part of its play in combining technology and insurance. Last year, Vision Fund invested in Ping An Good Doctor and Ping An Healthcare Technology.

OneConnect had a net loss of US$147 million on revenue of US$218 million during the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared with an US$82 million net loss on revenue of US$128 million for the same period last year, its filings show. Since 2017, Ping An Group has extended to OneConnect more than US$1 billion in loans with interest rates ranging from 4.55 per cent to 7.3 per cent.

The offering is being led by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Ping An Securities Group Holdings. OneConnect said in the filing that it plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OCFT.