Insurance group FWD has delayed its $1 billion Hong Kong initial public offering due to volatile market conditions, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest in a string of listings setbacks for the company founded by property tycoon Li Ka-shing’s son, reports the Financial Times.
FWD had sought a valuation of about $9 billion and was only recently approved by Hong Kong’s stock exchange to go ahead with the share sale. The company could resume listing procedures when markets become more favourable, according to the people.
FWD, which was founded by Richard Li in 2013, applied to list in the Asian financial hub in February after its attempt to list on Wall Street came under intense scrutiny from US regulators last year. “It’s definitely off the table for now,” one of the people familiar said, adding that while the company’s board had approved the delay, “at the end of the day this was Richard’s decision.”
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