Ant to Raise at Least USD33 Billion After Pricing Historic IPO
Zhang Yuanke
DATE:  Oct 27 2020
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Ant to Raise at Least USD33 Billion After Pricing Historic IPO Ant to Raise at Least USD33 Billion After Pricing Historic IPO

(Yicai Global) Oct. 27 -- Ant Group is set to raise at least CNY221.1 billion (USD33 billion) in the world's largest-ever initial public offering after pricing its shares. The flotation will value the Chinese fintech giant at CNY2.1 trillion (USD313 billion).

The shares offered in the Shanghai tranche of Ant’s dual listing were priced at CNY68.8 (USD10.30) each and those in Hong Kong at HKD80 (USD10.30), according to a statement posted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's website yesterday evening.

The highly anticipated pricing confirms that the Hangzhou-based company, whose Alipay app is one of China’s two main mobile payment platforms, will dislodge Saudi Aramco as the biggest-ever stock market debutante. The Saudi Arabian state-owned oil giant, which went public last December, raised USD29.4 billion after using a so-called greenshoe option to sell additional shares.

Ant is poised to rake in CNY115 billion on the SSE's Nasdaq-style Star Market and its greenshoe option may push that to CNY132.2 billion. Hong Kong will yield HKD122.6 billion (USD15.8 billion).

Among the 29 strategic institutional overseas investors participating in Ant’s IPO are sovereign wealth funds, including Canada Pension Plan Investment, Government of Singapore Investment and its Temasek Holdings and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the statement said.

Chinese investors feature Ant's largest shareholder, tech titan Alibaba Group Holding, the National Council for Social Security Fund, sovereign fund China Investment Corporation and various insurers, banks and large state-owned and private enterprises.

Based on the market valuation, Ant's forward price-to-earnings ratio is just over 20 times for the upcoming 24 months, even lower than that of PayPal Holdings, Meituan and other new economy companies, said Li Quan, a professor at Nankai University's School of Finance.

In addition to Ant, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Tencent Holdings each have more than 1 billion global users. Apple ranks first with a USD2 trillion market value, with Tencent last among them at CNY688.6 billion. At an expected valuation of USD313 billion, Ant’s market cap will have ample space to grow.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Ben Armour

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Keywords:   IPO,Fintech,Alibaba,Ant Group