PING An-backed Lufax has raised US$1.33 billion in its latest funding round from a dozen investors, at a valuation below expectations of the financial technology company, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The fundraising values Lufax, set up in 2011 by top insurer Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China Ltd., at US$38 billion prior to closing, the sources said.

Lufax was aiming for a US$40 billion valuation when it started raising funds in June, after postponing plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong.

The fundraising drew in a diverse group of investors, the sources said. Chinese private equity firm Primavera Capital was a lead investor, the sources said.

Among the main investors were Qatar Investment Authority, Hong Kong-based All-Stars Investment and Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings, the sources added.

Financial institutions including JP Morgan, Macquarie Group, UBS, UOB and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs also joined as investors, the sources added.

Lufax, formally Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange Co., seeks to fund growth while its Hong Kong IPO is on hold due to changing regulation in online consumer lending — a core business.

Lufax hired five banks to work on an IPO in Hong Kong to raise up to US$5 billion in the first half of 2018, Refinitiv’s IFR reported last December.

It postponed the IPO as authorities formulated regulation for the fast-growing consumer lending sector under a broader campaign to curb financial risk, sources have said.

There is no clarity on when the IPO plan will resume, one of the sources said, adding that Lufax is looking to shift its business away from consumer lending before its IPO.(SD-Agencies)