No work on Ant IPO, says CSRC

Chinese securities regulator yesterday denied reports that it is conducting review and research work regarding the revival of Ant Group's initial public offering but it reiterated its support for eligible platforms to list overseas.

This came after Bloomberg reported that the China Securities Regulatory Commission had started early-stage discussions on a potential revival of Ant Group's IPO.

Alibaba (9988), which owns a stake in Ant, climbed as much as 7 percent in US pre-market trading yesterday, before sliding after the CSRC's statement.

Ant, meanwhile, said it is focusing on the rectification work under the guidance of the regulatory authorities and currently has no plans to launch an IPO.

The Bloomberg report had said the CSRC has established a team to reassess the fintech giant's share sale plans and authorities are also nearing the final stages of issuing Ant a long-awaited license that would clear the path for an IPO and make the company regulated more like a bank.

But the CSRC said in a statement that it isn't conducting work on reviving the Ant IPO, although it supports listings of eligible platform companies in China and overseas.

Meanwhile, local e-commerce platform operator Yoho (2347) rose more than 8 percent in the gray market on Futu's platform ahead of its debut today, which suggested a paper gain of HK$360 per board lot.

Also, it closed 2.38 percent higher on Phillip Securities and Bright Smart Securities' gray market.

Yoho has raised HK$74.7 million after pricing its Hong Kong IPO at HK$2.1, the bottom end of the indicative price range.

Separately, Vision Deal HK Acquisition (7827), the second blank-check firm to list in Hong Kong today, said its shares were slightly oversubscribed after attracting 94 investors placing their orders.