Billionaire Jack Ma’s (馬雲) Ant Group (螞蟻集團) plans to file for listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai over the next few weeks, targeting a valuation of about US$225 billion, people familiar with the matter said, in an effort to pull off the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO).
The share sales could raise about US$30 billion in total if markets are favorable, one of the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private.
The Hangzhou, China-based firm seeks to float its shares simultaneously on the Hong Kong stock exchange and the tech-focused STAR board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange as soon as October, the people said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Ant, which made about US$1.3 billion in profit in the March quarter, is Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) cofounder Ma’s prized asset.
It has morphed from a fintech platform to an online mall for everything from loans and travel services to food delivery, in a bid to win back shoppers lost to Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊).
With data from almost 1 billion users of its Alipay (支付寶) app behind it, Ant is pushing broadly into financial services, delivering technology such as robo investing and lending platforms, as well as building out its advisory business.
A US$30 billion dual listing could mark the biggest debut globally, topping Saudi Arabian Oil Co’s record US$29.4 billion haul, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
At a valuation of US$225 billion, Ant’s valuation would be bigger than Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley combined.
Ant’s plans, including details of the share sale, are subject to change, the people said.
An Ant representative declined to comment.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission yesterday received an application from Ant for an overseas listing, its Web site showed, without further details.
Ant’s IPO would give another boost to Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd, which has seen a renaissance of Chinese tech listings since relaxing its rules in the wake of losing China’s biggest tech firms to New York.
Alibaba, which owns one-third of Ant, returned with a US$13 billion secondary listing in Hong Kong last year.
Beijing’s effort to build its own tech bourse in Shanghai underscores US-China tensions.
This month, a high-powered group of US regulators said that stock exchanges should set new rules that could trigger the delisting of Chinese companies.
Firms must grant US regulators access to their audit work papers to trade on a US exchange, according to the US President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.
The recommendations target a problem that has vexed US regulators for more than a decade: China’s refusal to allow inspectors from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to review audits of firms that trade on US markets.
A high-profile accounting scandal at Luckin Coffee Inc (瑞幸咖啡) this year has also elevated US regulators’ concerns.
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