The IPO of Ant Group's Chinese group was suddenly suspended, after a meeting between billionaire co-founder Jack Ma and the organizers in China.
According to Arabiyanet, the Shanghai Stock Exchange said that it postponed the listing of the company less than two days before the scheduled date to start trading its shares, due to major issues that may cause non-compliance Conditions of listing or disclosure. Requirements.
The Hong Kong IPO has also been suspended, according to a statement from Ant Group, which referred to the meeting between Ma and Chinese officials as well as recent changes to the regulations. In a statement on its official WeChat account, Ant Group has apologized to investors for any inconvenience caused by this development.
According to CNN, the dual listing was set to raise $ 37 billion, making it the largest share sale in history by a large margin. The Saudi state oil company Aramco holds the IPO record. It raised $ 29.4 billion when it issued shares on the Riyadh Stock Exchange last December.
and Ante Group is a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group, which was founded by billionaire Jack Ma. The IPO was valued at more than $ 310 billion, making it more valuable than major US investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. In response to these new data, shares of Alibaba fell by 9% after the suspension of Ant Group's subscription.
The move comes after the People's Bank of China and three other financial regulators and Ant Group executives were summoned for questioning on Monday. Just over a week ago, Jack Ma publicly criticized Chinese regulators for stifling innovation by shunning risk.
This is the first time that Chinese regulators have taken such drastic measures on the eve of the big IPO, according to Eurasia Group's chief geotechnology analyst, Xiaoming Lu. .
He added: Jack Ma's aggressive comments last weekend exacerbated the growing conflict between large Chinese tech companies and powerful regulators. It is possible that Ant Group will amend the IPO valuation as a result of this intervention and delay its launch date.
And last Monday, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission - one of the regulators who summoned Ant Group executives - proposed new rules for online lenders. And the rules may mean that the Chinese group will have to devote more money to the loans it facilitates and put more ...
