BEIJING, April 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Jimubox, a
market-leading Chinese P2P lending platform based in Beijing, today announced that it has completed
an $84 million Series C funding
round, led by Investec Bank plc with co-investment from Haitong
Kaiyuan Investment Co., a division of Haitong Securities.
The Series C funding round also included participation from new
investors Mandra Capital and Zhong Capital Fund. Existing Jimubox
shareholders Matrix China Partners, Xiaomi, Shunwei China Internet
Fund, Ventech China, and Magic Stone Alternative each participated
in the Series C financing round.
China e-Capital Corporation
acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Jimubox for this
funding round.
Investec Bank plc is incorporated in the United Kingdom and controlled by Investec PLC
("Investec"), an international specialist bank and asset manager
listed on the London Stock.Exchange (INVP; LN). Investec was
founded in South Africa in 1974
and has expanded through a combination of organic growth and
strategic acquisitions. Investec has full banking licences in the
United Kingdom and South Africa, and is present in a dozen
geographies including China,
Hong Kong, Australia, Switzerland, Ireland and the US. Investec, which employs
about 8,000 people internationally, has as its main businesses,
investment banking, capital markets, asset management, private
banking, wealth management and property finance. The current market
capitalisation of Investec is approximately RMB 48 billion, with assets of RMB 450 billion, and third party funds under
management of RMB1.05 trillion.
"We have been following the developments of the Chinese
financial sector closely, and have looked for ways to participate.
Given our banking experience, we were impressed by Jimubox's
understanding and management of credit risk. The Internet finance
sector in China has grown rapidly
over the last few years, and P2P is one of the most significant
growth areas. Jimubox has emerged as a leading P2P platform in a
short period of time. We believe that Jimubox has the potential to
become the market leader in this new and exciting sector," stated
Richard Forlee, CEO and Director of
Investec Capital Markets Ltd.
"Given Investec's strong track record in risk control, wealth
management, and international asset allocation, Jimubox is very
excited to have Investec join as a shareholder as we prepare for
our next phase of growth," said Dong
Jun, Founder and CEO of Jimubox.
Haitong Kaiyuan is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Haitong Securities Company Limited, one of the
largest securities brokerages in mainland China. Haitong
Kaiyuan manages more than RMB 20
billion of capital across multiple investment funds.
Haitong Kaiyuan has been activein
investing in Internet finance as the industry has rapidly grown
over the last few years.
Haitong Kaiyuan's Internet
finance director Wei Bingfei stated; "We are a strong supporter of
the Chinese internet finance market. Although this market is still
at a relatively early stage and external uncertainties exist, we
are fully confident of the long-term prospects. Through our time
getting to know Jimubox over the last year, we have been impressed
with their professionalism and team cohesion. We appreciate the
opportunity to be involved and to support the growth of the Jimubox
platform. Our involvement will help facilitate our plan in this
important market area."
As part of this financing round, Matrix China Partners increased
their shareholding ownership percentage in Jimubox. "We will
continue to support Jimubox with capital, industry knowledge, and
the facilitation of cross-border partnership opportunities. We feel
that Jimubox has the potential to be a very large company," said
Harry Man, Matrix China Partners'
Internet partner."
The Jimubox team has built a marketplace-lending platform with
an entrenched brand image, industry leading transparency, and a
liquid secondary trading market. The Jimubox platform facilitates
SME loans and individual consumption loans for under-banked Chinese
borrowers by providing direct investment opportunities to RMB
investors through an innovative online marketplace. Jimubox has
completed almost 6 billion RMB of new
issue loans since launching in August of 2013.
Jimubox has developed a multi-layer investor protection scheme
that involves third party credit enhancement, cash-based security
deposits as first protection against borrower default, and a
borrower-funded mutual risk protection mechanism. Additionally,
Jimubox has pioneered the concept of investor observation groups --
the "Jimu Jury" -- which provides select investors with monthly
access to information and documents that are unable to be disclosed
directly on the Jimubox website. These innovative measures ensure
that Jimubox is a market-leader in providing the highest level of
transparency and investor protection.
For more information, please visit www.jimubox.com.
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SOURCE Jimu Box Co., Ltd