PayEase Corp (首信易支付), the Beijing-based payment processor, is considering listing its shares in Taiwan as the company prepares to expand into cross-border yuan services.
PayEase executives have met with underwriters at Taipei-based KGI Securities Co (凱基證券), Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) and Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), PayEase spokesman Kevin Yim said in an interview.
An initial public offering (IPO) may come next year at the earliest, and no decision has been made on whether to proceed, he said.
PayEase, founded by the Beijing government before being bought by a group of private investors in 2005, joins Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) and Meituan.com (美團網) in offering investors a chance to tap into the world’s largest Internet market.
Listing in Taiwan could help the company access the world’s second-largest Chinese-speaking population after receiving one of the first cross-border payment-processor licenses from China.
“The payment industry has just started in Taiwan, so we can educate the regulators here and we can also help a lot of the Taiwanese merchants,” Yim said.
PayEase is “considering which market gives us the best valuation and strategic advantage for promoting our cross-border license,” he added.
The payment processor is also looking at Singapore, the US’ NASDAQ and Hong Kong, and has spoken with international brokers including JPMorgan Chase & Co, he said.
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