Weidai NYSE listing highlights e-credit

NEW YORK — Weidai, which provides an automated secured loan platform for small businesses in China, rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell last month in celebration of its initial public offering.

The company, trading under the ticker symbol of “WEI,” announced its IPO of 4.5 million American depositary shares, each representing one Class A ordinary share, at a price to the public of $10 per ADS for a total offering size of about $45 million.

Morgan Stanley and Citi acted as lead managers of the deal.

Weidai started trading at $10.50 per share on Nov 15, climbing 3.50 percent from its pricing, and was traded at $10.35 apiece around midday.

Established in 2011 by a group of entrepreneurs with backgrounds in small and micro enterprises, the company provides small and micro enterprise owners with accessible credit.

It has built a nationwide network of 492 service centers across 300 cities over the past seven years, it said in its filing.

The company’s platform connects borrowers, the majority of which are small and micro enterprise owners, with both online investors and institutional funding partners.

Weidai said it is the first in China to offer financing products online to borrowers.

Weidai maintains a sophisticated and effective risk management system spanning its entire transaction process, from borrower acquisition to loan collection.

The company’s extensive offline network seamlessly integrated its centralized technology platform and risk management system.

It has enabled a fast and highly automated transaction process.

Weidai believes its products and services create exceptional value for

both borrowers and investors.

Weidai was the largest automated financing solution provider in China in terms of loan volume in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with a market share of 35 percent in 2017, according to the Oliver Wyman Report.

The company generates revenues primarily from service fees charged to borrowers by facilitating and managing loans. Its revenues increased 101 percent to 3.54 billion yuan ($513 million) in 2017 from a year earlier, according to its prospectus.

In the first six months of this

year, the company’s net revenues increased by 20 percent to 1.88 billion yuan from the same period in 2017.

The company plans to use its IPO proceeds primarily for general corporate purposes, which may include investment in product development, sales and marketing activities, technology infrastructure, capital expenditure, improvement of corporate facilities, and other general administrative matters, it said in its prospectus.

XINHUA