* Czech Republic-based lender plans over $1 billion Hong Kong IPO this year – sources
* Could apply as soon as next month-sources
* Citi, HSBC and Morgan Stanley will lead transaction sources
* Latest in a series of non-Asian companies choosing HK for IPOs
By Julie Zhu and Julia Fioretti
HONG KONG, May 23 (Reuters) – Global consumer lender Home Credit Group has named Citigroup, HSBC Holdings and Morgan Stanley to lead its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong of at least $1 billion, three people with direct knowledge of the matter mentioned.
The Prague-based lender plans to go public after the summer, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
One person said Home Credit plans to file with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as early as next month and list in September or October.
It is looking to raise at least $1 billion, the sources said, warning the final figure could change depending on valuation.
Home Credit, Citi, HSBC and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Founded in 1997 in the Czech Republic, Home Credit operates in 10 countries, including the United States, Russia and India, and has assets of more than 23.6 billion euros (26.3 billion euros). dollars) in the world. It has also become one of the largest non-bank consumer lenders in China.
In May, Czech investment group PPF increased its stake in Home Credit after buying a 2.5% stake from co-shareholder Emma Capital in a deal valuing the company at 8.5 billion. euros.
PPF, owned by the Czech Republic’s richest businessman, Petr Kellner, has increased its stake to 91.1%, while fellow Czech investment group Emma Capital holds the remaining 8.9%.
Home Credit provided loans of 15.12 billion euros and had 28.9 million active customers in the first nine months of 2018, according to its website. It generated net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 229 million euros for the same period.
China is its largest country of operation, contributing 88 million euros to its net profit for the first nine months of last year, according to its quarterly results.
Home Credit joins a number of other non-Asian companies seeking to go public in Hong Kong with major IPOs, such as a spin-off from the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, as well as the British data center operator Global Switch. The two hope to raise at least $5 billion and up to $1 billion, respectively.
Topping the global rankings for funds raised in IPOs in 2018, Hong Kong currently trails the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq with $4.5 billion raised as of mid-May, according to data from Refinitiv. That compares to $15.2 billion on the NYSE and $10.1 billion on the Nasdaq.
The biggest listing in Hong Kong so far has been Chinese securities firm Shenwan Hongyuan, which raised $1.2 billion.
$1 = 0.8969 euros Report by Julie Zhu and Julia Fioretti in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Stephen Coates