*

Mubadala Capital and T&D Holdings ( TDHOF ) subsidiary invest in

FWD's IPO

*

FWD's third IPO attempt follows previous regulatory and

market

challenges

(Adds bullet points, risk factors from sixth paragraph,

previous valuation in 12th paragraph and net profit in 13th

paragraph)

By Scott Murdoch

June 26 (Reuters) - Insurer FWD Group, backed

by billionaire Richard Li, is looking to raise HK$3.47 billion

($442.08 million) through a Hong Kong initial public offering,

according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The pan-Asian insurer is offering 91.3 million shares at

HK$38.00 apiece, valuing FWD at HK$48.298 billion ($6.15

billion), the filings showed.

Mubadala Capital, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's sovereign

wealth fund, has subscribed to buy $150 million worth of FWD

shares in the IPO and a subsidiary of Japanese life insurer T&D

Holdings ( TDHOF ) will buy $100 million of stock, the filings

showed.

The stock will start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

on July 7. There is a so-called 'greenshoe option' to sell a

further 13.7 million shares to raise an extra $67 million.

The company said it would use the proceeds to improve its

capital position, reduce debt and grow its customer base and

digital strategies.

FWD said while it was not directly impacted by U.S President

Donald Trump's April tariffs package, customers in some of major

markets including Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia would be hit.

"These developments could also have potential inflationary

effects, affect global supply chains, and result in the

reduction of manufacturing and export capacity and loss of

employment in our key markets," FWD said in the risk factors

section of its prospectus.

The deal is FWD's third attempt to go public after it

initially aimed for a New York IPO in 2021 to raise $2-$3

billion.

The insurance group shelved the plan due to lengthy delays

in obtaining U.S. regulatory approval. FWD faced questions from

the U.S. regulators on its mainland China ties, Reuters reported

citing sources, and had been treated by authorities as a Chinese

business rather than a Hong Kong entity.

FWD then targeted a Hong Kong IPO in 2022 but put those

plans on hold due to volatile global financial markets at the

time.

FWD raised about $1.8 billion in private funding rounds in

2021 and 2022 which valued the business at around $9 billion,

Reuters reported at the time.

The company made a $10 million net profit in 2024,

according to its prospectus, compared to a $717 million loss the

prior year.

Li, the son of Hong Kong's richest person Li Ka-shing,

founded FWD in 2013 and controls it via investment arm Pacific

Century Group, which has interests in the technology, media,

telecoms and property as well as financial sectors.

Hong Kong listing volumes have rebounded this year,

overcoming subdued activity in the last couple of years with

CATL's $5.3 billion listing and Jiangsu Hengrui

Pharmaceuticals' $1.27 billion listing.

($1 = 7.8489 Hong Kong dollars)