UPDATE 2-J&T Global Express seen valued at $13bln in Hong Kong IPO - sources

(Adds J&T declining to comment in 3rd paragraph)

By Kane Wu, Fanny Potkin and Scott Murdoch

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Courier startup J&T Global Express, which mainly operates in Southeast Asia and China, will launch a Hong Kong initial public offering on Monday that will value it at about $13 billion, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The valuation is lower than the $20 billion J&T achieved in a 2021 funding round, but in line with the amount achieved during its most recent funding round in May, the sources said. All three sources declined to be named as the IPO details remain confidential. J&T declined to comment. The company, which started out in Indonesia and has since expanded across Southeast Asia and China, is seeking to raise $500 million in the IPO, half of what it had hoped to raise before it downgraded the amount after talks with investors, one of the sources said, saying that the market sentiment was "pessimistic".

Chinese courier giant S.F. Holding bought 26.14 million shares, or 1.54%, in J&T's most recent funding round, according to J&T's IPO filings lodged with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

J&T raised $2.5 billion in 2021 from investors including Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Capital Group and Sequoia Capital China and Chinese gaming and internet giant Tencent Holdings , Reuters has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Weak consumer sentiment globally has meant a drop in sales at many of J&T's biggest e-commerce clients since the pandemic drove a surge in online shopping. These include Sea Ltd's platform Shopee, which went on a stringent cost-cutting drive that impacted suppliers.

Launched in Indonesia in 2015 by two former executives at Chinese electronics firm OPPO, J&T quickly became the largest e-commerce delivery service in Southeast Asia.

The company bought Alibaba-backed Best Inc’s express delivery business in China in 2021 in a deal valued at about $1.1 billion and that launched an aggressive China expansion.

The startup, now headquartered in Shanghai, is one of the top five courier services in China. It also operates in Latin America and the Middle East since 2021.

J&T's IPO is expected to be the second largest share sale in Hong Kong in 2023, after Chinese spirits maker ZJLD Group raised $675.2 million in April. (Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong, Fanny Potkin in Singapore and Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Miral Fahmy)