Billionaire Richard Li's FWD Group seeks to raise HK$3.47 billion in Hong Kong IPO

Insurer FWD Group , backed by billionaire Richard Li Tzar-kai, is looking to raise HK$3.47 billion through a Hong Kong initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The pan-Asian insurer is offering 91.3 million shares at HK$38 apiece, valuing FWD at HK$48.3 billion, the filings showed. 

The minimum investment is around HK$3,838 per board lot of 100 shares.

Mubadala Capital, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, has subscribed to buy US$150 million (HK$1.17 billion) worth of FWD shares in the IPO and a subsidiary of Japanese life insurer T&D Holdings will buy US$100 million of stock, the filings showed.

The stock will start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 7. There is a so-called 'greenshoe option' to sell a further 13.7 million shares to raise an extra US$67 million.

The company said it would use the proceeds to improve its capital position, reduce debt and grow its customer base and digital strategies.

FWD said while it was not directly impacted by U.S President Donald Trump's April tariffs package, customers in some of major markets including Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia would be hit.

"These developments could also have potential inflationary effects, affect global supply chains, and result in the reduction of manufacturing and export capacity and loss of employment in our key markets," FWD said in the risk factors section of its prospectus.

The deal is FWD's third attempt to go public after it initially aimed for a New York IPO in 2021 to raise US$2-US$3 billion.

The insurance group shelved the plan due to lengthy delays in obtaining US regulatory approval. FWD faced questions from the US regulators on its mainland China ties, Reuters reported citing sources, and had been treated by authorities as a Chinese business rather than a Hong Kong entity.

FWD then targeted a Hong Kong IPO in 2022 but put those plans on hold due to volatile global financial markets at the time.

FWD raised about US$1.8 billion in private funding rounds in 2021 and 2022 which valued the business at around US$9 billion, Reuters reported at the time.

The company made a US$10 million net profit in 2024, according to its prospectus, compared to a US$717 million loss the prior year.

Li, the son of Hong Kong's richest person Li Ka-shing, founded FWD in 2013 and controls it via investment arm Pacific Century Group, which has interests in the technology, media, telecoms and property as well as financial sectors.

Hong Kong listing volumes have rebounded this year, overcoming subdued activity in the last couple of years with CATL's (3750) US$5.3 billion listing and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals' (1276) US$1.27 billion listing.

Reuters and staff reporter