SHENZHEN-BASED Ping An Insurance Group has raised nearly US$1 billion for a medical data collection and analysis business ahead of a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), sources familiar with the matter said, in what would be the second health care unit it plans to bring to market.

The funding round values the unit, Ping An Healthcare Management, at US$8.8 billion and has attracted SoftBank Group’s US$93 billion Vision Fund, the world’s largest private equity fund, and Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings Inc. as lead investors, the sources said.

SoftBank’s Vision Fund and SBI have invested about US$400 million and US$450 million respectively, one of the sources said.

That would follow two other planned listings for Ping An units in Hong Kong this year — Lufax, China’s biggest online wealth management platform, and Ping An Good Doctor, an online medical platform which allows users to consult doctors for diagnosis.

Ping An said Thursday in a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it would seek “all kinds of external financing for certain technology businesses when appropriate in the future in order to maximize shareholders’ value,” without elaborating further.

SoftBank’s investment is its latest bet on Ping An, a financial conglomerate whose businesses also include banking, securities and investment.

SoftBank has also invested in Good Doctor and Finance One Account, a finance unit under Ping An, the sources said.

(SD-Agencies)