What’s new: China’s securities regulator reported receiving Ant Group’s Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) documents for a pro forma review, meaning the fintech arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding could file its IPO application with the Hong Kong exchange as soon as next week.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) usually takes five business days to conduct a pro forma review of domestic companies’ overseas offering documents, a person close to the regulator told Caixin.
Ant Group hasn’t submitted its A-share IPO documents to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. A person close to Ant said the company plans to do so soon. The listing could be as soon as September and not later than October, this person said.
The background: Ant Group announced plans last month for dual listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai. With a valuation of roughly $200 billion, Ant, the parent of payment provider Alipay, is the world’s most valuable tech startup.
Ant Group has not disclosed the size or timetable of the offering. But sources with knowledge of the listing told Caixin that it is looking to raise around $30 billion in a concurrent IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai. That might make it the world’s largest IPO, surpassing Saudi Arabian oil giant Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion IPO about half a year ago.
CICC and CSC Financial have been picked as advisers on Ant’s domestic listing, according to a filing published Friday on the official website of the Zhejiang Regulatory Bureau of the CSRC. Shanghai-based law firm Fangda Partners and accounting firm Ernst & Young Hua Ming LLP will also participate in the advisory work.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)
