Forgame Announces Strategic Transition Towards FinTech

HONG KONG, Sept. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Forgame Strategic Upgrade and Acquisition of Jianlicai Conference -- Simplify Finance with Technological Synergies" was held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing on 31 August. At the conference, Forgame Holdings Limited, a listed company in Hong Kong (stock code: 484; "Forgame" or the "Group"), announced a new business strategy that focuses on the development of its FinTech Business. In addition, the Group officially announced the successful completion of its acquisition of the FinTech platform Jianlicai. Jianlicai's CEO, Mr. Zhang Yang, has been appointed as the COO of the Group.

Forgame Announces Strategic Transition Towards FinTech

Forgame to Strategically Transition Towards FinTech

The theme of the conference was "Simplify Finance with Technological Synergies". The concept of the theme was taken from the shared understandings and philosophies of Forgame and Jianlicai on the FinTech business. Both companies believe that the trend of FinTech is a simple user experience coupled with advanced artificial intelligence, and the growth of the finance industry can be accelerated rapidly through the introduction of technology. For example, technologies can simplify financial products and assist in generating stable returns, which will in turn help to benefit the Chinese middle class. Technologies can also help a service provider become a reliable partner to users, and allow them to manage users' financial activities in a simple manner. Also, through driving the development of the financial industry, technologies are also able to boost user value and social value. Potential technologies include blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data in product services, risk management models, and user experience and scenario analysis.

During the conference, Mr. Dongfeng Wang, Chairman and CEO of Forgame, said, "With the strong breakthrough in the technology sector, AI (artificial intelligence) will break out and become more widely used, and the financial industry will be the first sector to undergo a turning point, which will bring unprecedented upgrades to experience and convenience for users. We are an internet company. The Group has developed a strategic plan to enter the FinTech industry and previously obtained a license to carry out internet micro-lending. The goal of Forgame is to simplify financial activities by using artificial intelligence technology and big data risk management. Tapping into the FinTech business is not simply a financial investment, but also a calculated move based on our strategic direction and market potential."

Mr. Dongfeng Wang, added, "The acquisition of Jianlicai is only the first step of Forgame's FinTech strategy. Looking forward, the Group will combine the business and technology advantages accumulated by Jianlicai into Forgame's internet gateway and superior channels, performing strategic upgrades that focus on building core competencies in all aspects along the financial chain through big data analysis, a risk management model that is based on machine learning, and the scenario analysis for business decision making."

Mr. Zhang Yang, COO of Forgame and CEO of Jianlicai, said, "From traditional finance to internet finance, and then to the current FinTech-driven finance, financial services have increasingly become part of the needs of ordinary people, and more people can enjoy this service in their daily lives, at work, online or offline, or any location. Jianlicai hopes to bridge users and their financial lives via the intelligent life+people+scenes, helping build a "simple life" lifestyle for users. In fact, this is also an inevitable outcome of the combination of FinTech and daily life.

Win-win situation, Business Synergies and FinTech Ecosystem

While Forgame described the strategic acquisition as "a springboard to the FinTech industry", Jianlicai considers it as the starting point of further deepening FinTech reform. Both companies are very optimistic about the prospects of the FinTech industry, and their respective competitive advantages are the major reasons for this strategic acquisition.

Forgame has operated in the gaming industry for a number of years with a remarkable performance, which has allowed it to develop strong capabilities in technology research and development. For example, in the aspect of artificial intelligence as a popular technology, Forgame has long been engaging in investment and research in the field. Furthermore, Forgame possesses over 200 million users' data, as well as capital market access through being a listed company, both of which are necessary to Jianlicai at the current stage. Jianlicai is positioned as a mobile intelligence asset management platform, which has achieved significant performances in smart investment, data risk management, stable revenue, regulated operation and R&D, intelligent model development and risk management. Jianlicai adheres to a simple, optimized and user-oriented operation philosophy, which is a major contributor to its outstanding business performance. Against the backdrop of a stringent regulatory environment and intensive competition within the industry, Jianlicai recorded a profit of RMB12 million in the first two months of 2017. The abovementioned results were expected by Forgame, which has ambitious plans in the FinTech industry.

New finance to promote a new society

The FinTech sector that both companies focus on is regarded highly by a number of industry experts.

At the conference, a panel discussion themed "New finance to promote a new society" was held. Professor Zhongmin Wang, Vice Chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund, commented on the new finance and its impact on the society, "I see two investment directions from the perspective of new finance. First, new finance helps generate new areas, new dimensions, new products and new markets, where high-growth investment targets can be identified. Second, in order to replace the old finance, new finance has to be more effective, more caring and more flexible, and it will stand out in the traditional finance sector, attracting a significant number of customers, a great amount of funding, and unleashing decent growth potential. Apparently, new finance fueled by technologies will enjoy tremendous growth potential in the future."

Mr Zhang Jian, expert in blockchain technology and the writer of the book "Blockchain: Defining Finance and Economy in the Future" agreed that technology has a vital role to play during the development of new finance. He commented, "The key word for FinTech 1.0 is connection. I think pricing will be a key characteristic for FinTech 2.0. In the era of FinTech 2.0, thanks to cloud computing, big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence that could be combined with all the above, technologies are set to redefine the finance sector."

Hillman Chan, research analyst at Citi, believed that new finance is able to address the weaknesses of traditional finance. He said, "From the perspective of the capital market, although there is a huge gap between new finance and traditional finance, I think they are the same in nature. What makes the difference? It is FinTech that is able to address all weaknesses of traditional finance, such as capital efficiency, flexibility to users, and offline queuing."

In addition to the announcement of new strategies and acquisition of Jianlicai, during the conference, Forgame also introduced its management team and the charity campaign "red umbrella plan", and held a roundtable discussion on the topic of "new finance to promote a new society". This event was the first time that the management team of Forgame and Jianlicai appeared together after the acquisition. The event generated team chemistry for new finance, a common goal for the two companies.

About Forgame Holdings Limited (stock code: 484)

Established in 2009 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 3 October 2013, Forgame Holdings Limited is a leading company of mobile games and webgames in China, and is now speeding up the development of FinTech business. 

Forgame aims to create an inclusive financial ecosystem and become one of the most influential FinTech companies in China. In December 2016, the Group obtained a license from the government to carry out internet micro-lending business in the PRC. In August 2017, the Group acquired 55% equity interest in China's leading FinTech platform Jianlicai. Group is expected further strengthen the presence in the Fintech market in the future.

For press enquiries:

Christensen IR

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170901/1932389-1