Ant gets ready for dual listings in Shanghai, HK
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Ant Group, the online payment giant affiliated with Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba, said yesterday it had taken the first steps toward a blockbuster dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong that could be among the biggest in years.
The world’s most valuable tech “unicorn” said the listings will help it accelerate its goal of digitalizing the service industry in China, develop global markets with partners and expand investment in technology and innovation.
The company said the shares will be listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR tech board.
The company did not give details on the timing or size of the issue, saying only that Ant had “commenced the process.”
The company was valued at around US$150 billion in its most recent round of fundraising.
It is seeking a valuation of at least US$200 billion, Bloomberg reported.
The company statement quoted Eric Jing, executive chairman of Ant Group, as lauding the STAR Market for allowing global investors access to companies such as his, and giving Chinese tech titans wider access to world capital markets.
“The innovative measures implemented by the SSE STAR Market and the SEHK have opened the doors for global investors to access leading edge technology companies from the most dynamic economies in the world and for those companies to have greater access to the capital markets,” said Jing.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to play a part in this development. Becoming a public company will enhance transparency to our stakeholders, including customers, business partners, employees, shareholders and regulators.”
A concurrent listing of Ant would be a boost to both cities’ status as capital market centers.
Hong Kong implemented listing reforms in 2018 that paved the way for tech firms with weighted voting rights and for early-stage biotechnology companies to list.
Alibaba itself has been listed in the US since 2014, but last year raised billions more in a second listing in Hong Kong.
And last month Alibaba’s Chinese rival JD.com raised almost US$4 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong that was the world’s second-biggest of the year.
Tech analysts say Ant Group controls more than half of China’s huge mobile payments sector, which it fiercely contests with Chinese rival Tencent.
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