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Bloomberg
The euphoria around Chinese fintech listings may be starting to wane. Online lender PPDAI Group Inc. raised $221 million after pricing its US initial public offering below the bottom end of a marketed range. The stock climbed 1.2 percent to $13.15 as of 12:52 pm in New York. Rival Qudian Inc. fell below its offer price the week after its October debut in New York, before bouncing back.
PPDAI priced its offering a week after news that Chinese regulators are considering a crackdown on the country’s cash microlenders in response to claims that some have charged excessive interest rates. The initial public offering of Qudian helped trigger the regulator’s review of the sector.
“One of the things that you’re seeing pretty clearly is the pullback of the risk appetite for these types of lenders,†Christopher Balding, associate professor at Peking University HSBC School of Business, said. Chinese regulators are right to be concerned about the “very rapid run-up in consumer lending,†he said.