HONG KONG -- Shares of PAX Global Technology plunged 43.3% in Hong Kong on Wednesday before going into a trading halt amid media reports of a law enforcement raid on a Florida warehouse belonging to the Chinese payment terminal maker.
In a statement to local media, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said that it was "executing a court-authorized search... in furtherance of a federal investigation."
The agency said the raid was "in partnership" with the departments of Homeland Security and Commerce, U.S. Customs, the local sheriff and U.S. Navy criminal investigators, without giving more details.
KrebsOnSecurity, a cybersecurity news site, reported that PAX is under investigation due to signs its terminals were used in cyberattacks.
"The company is looking into the matter and will make further announcements as and when appropriate," a company spokesperson said.
An analyst who follows the company said he was told that the company's operations in Jacksonville, Florida returned to normal after the FBI raid.
"The full force of the U.S. apparatus is now aimed at China," said Paul Schulte, a former U.S. National Security Council analyst who now runs finance technology research company Schulte Research in Singapore. "The war on terror is over. The war on China has started. The systems will be unplugged one by one."
PAX is the third-largest provider of electronic payment terminals in the world, after Florida-based Verifone and France's Ingenico. Founded in 2000, PAX listed in Hong Kong in 2010 and has sold more than 60 million terminals in over 120 countries, carving out a particularly strong position in Latin America.
In the first half of the year, PAX's net profits rose 34.1% to 515 million Hong Kong dollars ($66.23 million) as revenues rose 30.6% to HK$3.32 billion from a year ago. A boom in contactless payments amid the COVID pandemic has given a lift to the company's sales.
PAX's Chinese clients include UnionPay, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications and China Mobile. Last year, the company launched a facial recognition payment service in partnership with PrivatBank, Ukraine's largest bank.