Chinese P2P Lender Plans US IPO

A Chinese firm, Shanghai Paipaidai Financial Information Service Co., or Ppdai.com, has been aiming to list on public markets in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday (Oct. 18). That debut could come as early as the second half of 2017. The company traces its genesis back to 2007 and, as WSJ noted, has said it was among the first firms to offer P2P loans through an online platform. And while the company had no official comment on its IPO plans, WSJ reported that banks may be hired this year to begin an exploration in earnest.

That would mean that Ppdai is joining peers such as Dianrong.com, with an eye on raising capital to help fund growth. WSJ said the P2P space has been explosive in its emergence and has been fueled by continued demand for consumer loans.

The listing in the U.S. would help avert what has been termed a “logjam” of more than 800 firms looking to list in China. The growth in the sector has been so high that as many as 2,349 platforms exist in China, and on the books, there is as much as 621 billion yuan.

That tally is up five times over 2014 levels. There have also been new regulations handed down by the Chinese government. The rules mean that lenders are becoming restricted in the loans they can offer and also the amounts they can lend. Even so, said WSJ, the consumer loans have come even as banks have ignored the sector.