Ant Group (螞蟻集團), the online payments arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), yesterday announced plans for an initial public offering (IPO) that could become the world’s biggest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ant, valued at US$150 billion after a 2018 private fundraising, gave no indication how much money it hopes to raise in the joint IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai, but it would be a test of investors willingness to look beyond the pandemic and worsening global economy.
The company is to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) STAR board and on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK).
An IPO in Hong Kong would also give foreign investors a chance to own a piece of the biggest player in the huge Chinese online payments industry. That would look doubly attractive at a time when the pandemic has given the Chinese e-commerce industry a boost.
Apart from mobile payments service Alipay (支付寶), Ant Group also operates one of the world’s largest money market funds and runs Sesame Credit, a private credit rating system for its users.
“The innovative measures implemented by SSE STAR market and the SEHK have opened the doors for global investors to access leading-edge technology companies from the most dynamic economies in the world and for those companies to have greater access to the capital markets,” Ant Group executive chairman Eric Jing (井賢棟) said in a statement.
Ant Group has invested heavily in payments providers in regions including Southeast Asia and Europe as it looks to offer financial services to more users around the world.
Together with its partners, Ant Group serves more than 1 billion users globally.
Last year, it bought UK payments company WorldFirst to bolster its global expansion.
“We strive to enable all consumers and small businesses to have equal access to financial and other services that are inclusive, green and sustainable,” the statement said.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
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PRECEDENTED TIMES: In news that surely does not shock, AI and tech exports drove a banner for exports last year as Taiwan’s economic growth experienced a flood tide Taiwan’s exports delivered a blockbuster finish to last year with last month’s shipments rising at the second-highest pace on record as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and advanced computing remained strong, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Exports surged 43.4 percent from a year earlier to US$62.48 billion last month, extending growth to 26 consecutive months. Imports climbed 14.9 percent to US$43.04 billion, the second-highest monthly level historically, resulting in a trade surplus of US$19.43 billion — more than double that of the year before. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) described the performance as “surprisingly outstanding,” forecasting export growth
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