Ant Group to raise $34bn in world’s biggest stock market debut
Ant Group is aiming to raise up to $34.4bn (£26.4bn) in what will be the world’s largest ever initial public offering, stock market filings confirmed today.
The Chinese fintech firm is set to raise $17.2bn in both Shanghai and Hong Kong through the mammoth dual listing.
Ant Group set the price tag for the Shanghai leg of the float at 68.8 yuan (£7.88) per share, while the Hong Kong tranche was priced at HK$80 (£7.93) per share, filings showed.
The combined raising of as much as $34.4bn will confirm Ant’s stock market debut as the largest in history, overtaking Saudi Aramco’s $29.4bn float last year.
The deal will value the payments firm, which is backed by Chinese conglomerate Alibaba, at more than $313bn, though its valuation could rise even higher if it raises further funds through a 15 per cent greenshoe option.
This will give it a higher valuation than Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank by assets, and make it four times larger than Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs.
Ant Group plans to sell 1.67bn shares in the Shanghai float, which will smash the previous record for China’s largest ever IPO set by Agricultural Bank of China in 2010.
The company will also sell the same number of shares in Hong Kong, marking a major boost for the former British colony’s reputation as a capital markets hub.
Bookbuilding for the Hong Kong leg will run until Friday, while books for the Shanghai float will be open for one day on Thursday.