30-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Richard Li's insurer FWD aims to list in Hong Kong in July after adding IPO bankers, sources say
FWD Group, the insurer founded by
tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai , could be listed in Hong Kong as soon as July after making its third attempt to list its shares amid a flurry of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the city, according to people familiar with the company's plans.
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The insurer named CMB International and HSBC as overall IPO coordinators in a filing to the stock exchange on Thursday, joining Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on a previously announced line-up. It followed a fresh IPO submission last week, after two previous attempts lapsed, as some investors showed interest in its prospects, sources said.
FWD, which has not disclosed the size of its fundraising or the listing timeline, plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its capital base to support its business expansion, according to its filing.
A representative for FWD declined to comment.
The insurer postponed its Hong Kong IPO twice after an about-turn from a
planned New York listing in 2021 amid US-China tensions. It had aimed to raise up to US$3 billion with that US flotation plan in September 2021, which would have valued the company at US$13 billion.
Richard Li Tzar-kai leaves a government building after an official dinner in February 2024. Photo: Edmond So
Li, 58, is the younger son of Hong Kong's richest billionaire Li Ka-shing. He is joining a beeline of Chinese companies taking advantage of a buzz in the city's stock market, following some stellar first-day winnings. They included a 16.4 per cent gain by China's biggest electric-car battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, and a 37 per cent surge in Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, one of China's largest drug makers.
