NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese fintech platform 9F raised 84.55 million U.S. dollars in its initial public offering Thursday by selling 8.9 million American depositary shares (ADS) at 9.50 dollars apiece.
The ADS, which are trading on Nasdaq under the symbol "JFU", rose 0.84 percent to close at 9.58 dollars. Each ADS represents one ordinary share of the company.
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC led the 5-member underwriting team for the IPO. They have been granted an option to buy up to about 1.33 million additional ADS to cover over-allotments.
9F was the largest online consumer finance platform in China in terms of outstanding loan balance in 2018, the company's prospectus quoted consulting firm Oliver Wyman as saying.
The company reported total net revenues of 179.4 million dollars in the first quarter this year, up more than 10 percent year-on-year. Its net income reached 78.6 million dollars for the same period.
9F profiles itself as a fintech firm powered by artifical intelligence. With 10 wholly-owned or holding subsidiaries, its core business spreads from digital financial account, installment consumption, internet lending to mobile overseas securities and big data assessment.
The company has been developing direct lending program rapidly since 2018 and intends to cooperate with more institutional funding partners to further strengthen and diversify funding sources, said Liu Lei, a co-founder and executive president of 9F.
The percentage of loan origination volume funded by the company's institutional funding partners to its total loan origination volume has increased from about 10.5 percent for the first quarter this year to 58 percent for Q2, the company said.
The net proceeds of IPO will be used to strengthen the company's ecosystem, broaden product offering, advance research and development, and expand international footprint, among others.
9F will expand investment and businesses in Hong Kong and Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, said Lin Yanjun, chief financial officer and director of the company.
