It takes some guts to go ahead with a public offering in China right now. The Chinese government has been cracking down on tech companies looking to go public in domestic and foreign markets. This situation, however, doesn't seem to bother Hong Kong's fintech firm Hyphen Group, which is pushing ahead to go public via a SPAC deal on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). The SPAC deal with provident Acquisition Corp is set to give Hyphen a valuation of about $1b. The deal could also include a $100m PIPE by institutional investors.
Hyphen Group utilizes tech-driven comparison tools to help its customers choose the ideal financial products for them. These products include credit cards and personal loans. The company has over 11 million monthly users across eight brands. The decision to go public comes after last year's acquisition of Singaporean personal finance firm Seedly from ShopBack, which helped the company increase its revenue by more than 80% compared to a year prior.
Why it matters
Hyphen's decision to go public comes at a time when four other SPAC companies had to review their IPO plans on the HKEX due to China's new regulations on flotations. HKEX hopes that Hyphen's major listing will instill some confidence in other SPACs so that the exchange can continue on its upward trajectory. In H1 of 2021, HKEX welcomed a record number of 46 companies.
