Ant Group reportedly taking another swing at HK IPO

Hong Kong’s initial public offering market maintained momentum with mainland digital payment giant Ant Group reportedly communicating with regulators about its plan to list in the city again.

Caixin reported that the Alibaba-affiliated (9988) fintech giant aims to list its overseas arm, Ant International, in Hong Kong, indicating the plan currently faces no policy obstacle.

Ant International, registered in Singapore, contributes to around 20 percent of Ant's revenues.

Ant was founded by billionaire Jack Ma Yun and operates China's ubiquitous mobile payments app Alipay.

Chinese authorities pulled the plug on Ant's US$37 billion (HK$288.6 billion) initial public offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2020, shortly after Ma gave a speech in Shanghai in October that year, accusing financial watchdogs of stifling innovation.

That subsequently led to a forced restructuring of Ant and a nearly US$1 billion fine by Chinese regulators. Ant is in the process of securing a financial holding company licence which, once obtained, could facilitate the revival of its IPO goal.

Recently, Beijing has taken a less combative approach, following a slowing in China’s economy and escalations in the Sino-US trade war.

President Xi Jinping met Ma and other business leaders in February, signaling Beijing’s endorsement for the private sector, now considered key to reviving the world’s No 2 economy.

STAFF REPORTER and REUTERS