HONG KONG START-UP IS SAID CLOSE TO $500-MILLION VALUATION

TNG FINTECH Group, Inc., a Hong Kong-based digital wallet operator founded in 2013, is poised to close a funding round and is targeting a valuation of about $500 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The firm has attracted almost $60 million in the series A round from investors including a Beijing- based private equity fund, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing private deliberations. TNG, which offers global money transfers, foreign- exchange transactions and bill payments, expects to be profitable this year and is targeting a listing in either New York or Hong Kong by 2019, the person said.

Hong Kong, with an economy focused on property and finance, has struggled to create major start-ups and no companies from the city make the CB Insights list of unicorns, or firms with a $ 1- billion valuation.

WeLab, an operator of online lending platforms, reportedly came close to that mark in January after it completed a $ 160- million funding round. In April, Tink Labs Ltd., which leases phones to travelers, was in the process of raising about $ 40 million and aiming for a unicorn valuation, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

Hong Kong’s Fintech companies are gaining in scale as they start to move overseas, rather than focusing on the local market as was the case in the past, said Charles d’Haussy, head of Fintech at the government’s Invest Hong Kong. TNG’s ambitions show how some local Fintech firms “are getting big and they are starting to expand in Asia Pacific,” Mr. d’Haussy said.

Evonne Xiao, a spokeswoman for TNG, declined to comment.

TNG competes for digital payments in Hong Kong with Chinese internet giants Ant Financial and Tencent Holdings Ltd., and local operator Octopus Cards Ltd. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority ( HKMA) has granted so- called storedvalue facilities licenses to 16 firms including the two Chinese companies since last year, helping fuel the popularity of digital payments in the city.

The number of stored-value facilities accounts in use rose 3.8% to 42 million at the end of the first quarter from December, HKMA data show. While the central bank didn’t provide a breakdown for the individual licensees, the figures include the ubiquitous Octopus cards that Hong Kongers use to pay for everything from bus and train rides to groceries and cappuccinos. The value of transactions in the March quarter was about HK$29 billion ($ 3.7 billion), little changed from three months earlier.

TNG expects to close its latest fundraising this week and the proceeds will be used to acquire companies with remittance licenses in Singapore, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the UK, the person said.

Besides the Beijing PE fund, other investors in the round include a Taiwanbased technology fund and an IsraeliHong Kong PE venture, the person said, declining to name them.

The company, which is also targeting individuals in developing countries without access to banking services, has more than 600,000 users in Hong Kong, with 190,000 cash pick- up points in 13 countries, according to company figures.

After the latest funding round, founder and Chief Executive Officer Alex Kong will hold a more than 80% stake in the firm, the person said. — Bloomberg