China’s first internet-only insurer has filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong worth up to US$1.5 billion, according to a report by The Business Times.

ZhongAn Online Property and Casualty Insurance expects to list as early as the end of this year, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. The insurer, which was founded in 2013, offers more than 300 insurance products and, according to market presentations, has written more than 7.56 billion policies for more than 535 million customers.

Its main product is insurance that online shoppers purchase to cover shipping costs in case they decide to return products they’ve ordered. The online-shopping insurance accounted for more than 50% of ZhongAn’s business last year, according to a Nasdaq report.

ZhongAn chose to file for the IPO in Hong Kong because of uncertainty over the time it would take to list in mainland China, Reuters reported. When contacted by Reuters, the company declined to comment on its plans.


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