Chinese loan platform Weidai files for a $100 million US IPO-Nasdaq
What happened: Chinese peer-to-peer lender Weidai Hangzhou Financial Information Service Co. has filed for an initial public offering to raise up to $100 million. Weidai, which means “microlending” in Chinese, is an early-stage personal credit system based in China. Users can borrow from the platform with their automobiles as collateral. The site also provides unsecured cash lending and financing for car purchases.
Why it’s important: IPO timing has been mostly associated with a varying number of factors. For Weidai, the current situation is a bit complicated. On the bright side, the IPO comes at a time when the overseas listing of Chinese tech companies is heating up and there hasn’t been a major listing of a Chinese financial technology company in the U.S. or Hong Kong since Lexin Fintech got listed in last December. However, China is now hit by an increasing number of P2P defaults and the government is poised to tighten regulation of the online lending industry.