Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li’s FWD Group Holdings Ltd. is raising more than $1.4 billion from investors to pay down debt ahead of a planned multibillion-dollar initial public offering.

FWD said Tuesday it would raise $1.425 billion from new and existing investors this month by issuing new shares. The fundraising values the Hong Kong-based company at about $9 billion after including the new money, and assumes a pre-IPO discount for liquidity risks, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

Fast-growing...

Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li’s FWD Group Holdings Ltd. is raising more than $1.4 billion from investors to pay down debt ahead of a planned multibillion-dollar initial public offering.

FWD said Tuesday it would raise $1.425 billion from new and existing investors this month by issuing new shares. The fundraising values the Hong Kong-based company at about $9 billion after including the new money, and assumes a pre-IPO discount for liquidity risks, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

Fast-growing FWD is cooling on plans to list in New York, partly because of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing that are weighing on Chinese companies listed in the U.S., the person said. FWD remains open to the possibility of a U.S. listing, but now favors its home base of Hong Kong, the person added.

The deal proceeds will help FWD deleverage before it goes public, allowing it to use its listing proceeds for growth-related investments, the person said.

The fundraising includes money from new and existing FWD investors including U.S. investment giant Apollo Global Management Inc., Swiss Re AG , Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. of the Philippines and Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank PCL.

Li Ka Shing Foundation, where Mr. Li is a board director, and Mr. Li’s private-investment company, Pacific Century Group Holdings Ltd., invested as well, FWD said.

FWD is seeking to grow its business in countries across Asia, tapping into a market that has given rise to some of the world’s most valuable insurers, including Hong Kong-listed AIA Group Ltd., which is valued at about $126 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

On Tuesday, FWD highlighted its value of new business, saying it grew 45% year-over-year in the first half of 2021, and 21% year-over-year in the third quarter. The metric is a key measure of profitability.

FWD is the insurance business of Mr. Li’s Pacific Century Group. It was founded in 2013 when it acquired Asian assets from ING Groep, and has since grown across Asia. It entered Malaysia in 2019 and Cambodia in 2020. Last year, it bought businesses in Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

The new Beijing stock exchange, is meant to help smaller companies get more investment to fund innovation, according to a Chinese regulator. Its debut comes even as China tightens its grip on companies seeking listings overseas. WSJ’s Anna Hirtenstein explains. Photo: Li Xin/Zuma Press The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition

Write to Ben Otto at ben.otto@wsj.com