Billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group plans to file for dual listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai in the next few weeks, targeting a valuation of about $225 billion (Dh825.8bn), people familiar with the matter said, in an effort to pull off the world’s largest initial public offering.
The share sales could raise about $30bn in total if markets are favourable, said one of the people, requesting not to be named because the matter is private.
The Hangzhou-based firm seeks to float its shares simultaneously on the Hong Kong stock exchange and Shanghai’s tech-focused Star board as soon as October, they said.
Ant, which made about $1.3bn in profit in the first quarter, is Alibaba Group founder Mr 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.
With data from almost a billion users of its Alipay app at its back, 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 $30bn dual listing could mark the biggest debut globally, topping Saudi Aramco’s record $29.4bn. At a valuation of $225bn, Ant’s valuation would be bigger than Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley combined.
Ant’s plans including details of the share sale are subject to change, the people said. A representative for Ant declined to comment.
Ant’s IPO will give another boost to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which has already seen a renaissance of Chinese tech listings after it relaxed rules in the wake of losing China’s biggest tech firms to New York.
China’s effort to build its own tech bourse in Shanghai underscores the geopolitical tension with Washington.
A high-powered group of US regulators said this month that stock exchanges should set new rules that could trigger the delisting of Chinese companies. Firms must grant American regulators access to their audit work papers in order to trade on a US exchange, according to the 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 Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to review audits of firms that trade on American markets.
