FWD Group has launched its long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, as the pan-Asian insurer founded by local tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai approaches the end of a four-year odyssey for capital that has taken it from New York back to his hometown.
FWD plans to sell 91.34 million shares at HK$38 each, according to a filing on Thursday to the Hong Kong exchange, valuing the insurer at HK$48.3 billion (US$6.15 billion). The insurer could upsize the IPO to 105 million shares and raise the gross proceeds to HK$3.99 billion, if an overallotment is exercised.
The 12-year-old insurer joins scores of companies that have flocked to raise capital in Hong Kong since late last year, pushing the city to the top of the global league table of IPO destinations.
Thirty-six companies, mostly mainland-based, have raised about US$12.9 billion on the Hong Kong stock exchange this year through June 25, surpassing the 2024 total of US$11.3 billion, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group. Nasdaq ranked a distant second with US$8.7 billion from 69 issues.
Executive director Richard Li Tzar-kai will own 66.45 per cent of the insurer after the stock listing. Photo: Edmond So
FWD’s journey to the capital markets began in June 2021 when it applied confidentially to sell shares in New York, citing the size and liquidity of the US capital market for its choice over Hong Kong, in an IPO that was estimated at between US$2 billion and US$2.5 billion.
That plan soon ran into a roadblock, as US regulators stalled their approval with questions about potential risks associated with the Chinese government extending its authority over Hong Kong-based firms. While FWD serves more than 30 million customers in 10 markets across Asia, Li is one of Hong Kong’s wealthiest private entrepreneurs.
