Ant, which made about US$1.3 billion in profit in the March quarter, is Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. founder Ma’s prized asset. It’s 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. 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 US$30 billion dual listing could mark the biggest debut globally, topping Saudi Aramco’s record US$29.4 billion haul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 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. A representative for Ant declined to comment.
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.
Ant’s IPO will give another boost to Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., 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. Alibaba, which owns a third of Ant, returned with a US$13 billion secondary listing last year in Hong Kong.
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. A high-profile accounting scandal at Luckin Coffee Inc. this year has also elevated such concerns.
