Chinese online brokerage Futu to go public in U.S. in 2019

Futu Holdings, a Hong Kong-based online brokerage, plans to debut in the U.S. public markets this year as it filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

[Photo: VCG]

It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol FHL and aims to raise up to 300 million U.S. dollars in the IPO. Founded in 2011, the company posted a revenue of 92 million U.S. dollars for the 12 months ended Sept.30, 2018.

The stock investing service has been backed by corporate shareholders with 215.5 million dollars, including China's internet giant Tencent, U.S. private equity investment firm Matrix Partners and U.S. venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, Futu disclosed on its official website.

Registered by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission in 2014, Futu mainly provides trading services in both Chinese and U.S. stock markets. The fintech also provides market data and news feed of Hong Kong, Chinese mainland and U.S. stock markets on its investing platform Futu Niuniu with more than 5 million users.

Book runners of the deal includes Goldman Sachs (Asia), UBS Investment Bank and Credit Suisse. No information on pricing terms has been released so far.