MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PAG, Primavera Lead $117m Equity Raise for Dashu Finance of China

Two firms based in Hong Kong, alternative investor Pacific Alliance Group (PAG) and China-focused Primavera Capital Group, led a recent Series C funding round for China’s Dashu Finance, a provider of unsecured loans to individuals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. A third financial services company in Hong Kong, China Everbright Limited, and Sequoia Capital China, a Beijing-based unit of US-based venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, also participated in the local-currency package, which was worth a total of USD 117 million. Neither the sizes of the equity stakes nor the amounts invested by each firm have been released.

Since it was established in 2014, Dashu Finance has issued 60,000 microloans worth approximately USD 30 million in local-currency. The firm, which has 17 office locations, specializes in “credit analysis based on big data, a method traditionally applied only to credit card loans and micro loans.” It also provides analytical tools to banks that lend to small enterprises. Dashu Finance reports a non-performing loan rate of 2.3 percent.

By Ryan Gauthier, Research Associate