Softbank buys into Chinese online insurer ahead of $11b IPO

Masayoshi Son at SoftBank World 2016. Photo credit: SoftBank.

Online insurer ZhongAn, one of China’s leading fintech services, today got a big vote of confidence ahead of a much-anticipated IPO.

Japan’s SoftBank will buy a 5 percent stake in ZhongAn in its upcoming share offering, it announced today (hat-tip to TechCrunch). Depending on the offer price, this’ll cost Softbank up to US$550 million.

See: China’s fintech industry shows where the rest of the world is heading

ZhongAn is gearing up to raise US$1.5 billion from an IPO that’ll value it at US$11 billion, according to Reuters citing people familiar with the deal. Alibaba and Tencent-backed ZhongAn, launched in 2013, is a spin-off from Chinese insurance giant PingAn.

Softbank’s Masayoshi Son is arguably the savviest investor in China tech – such as the Alibaba stake that turned from US$20 million to US$50 billion.

Watch: The crazy world of Masayoshi Son

Converted from Hong Kong dollars. Rate: US$1 = HK$7.82.