FWD to raise over $1.4 billion ahead of IPO

FWD Group Holdings is raising $1.425 billion to pay down debt ahead of a planned initial public offering. The fundraising values the Hong Kong-based company at about $9 billion after including the new money, and assumes a pre-IPO discount for liquidity risks, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The fundraising includes money from new and existing FWD investors including U.S. investment company Apollo Global Management, Swiss Re, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. of the Philippines and Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank PCL.

The company decided to shift its IPO to Hong Kong after regulatory approval for FWD’s U.S. IPO of $2 billion to $3 billion was delayed.