World’s Biggest IPO suspended

Ant Group’s world record-setting IPO, scheduled to hold in Hong Kong and Shanghai, has been suspended, according to a report credited to CNBC news.

What we know

Both exchanges, located in Hong Kong and Shanghai, issued statements to this effect. Alibaba, which has a majority stake of about 33% in Ant Group, saw its shares fall; it lost more than 5% in U.S.

premarket trading.

Ant Group’s controller, Jack Ma, Executive Chairman, Eric Jing, and CEO, Simon Hu, were scrutinized by regulators in China, according to a statement seen from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

On Tuesday, the Shanghai Stock Exchange referred to the investigation, while explaining why it suspended the IPO.

Ant stated, “significant issues such as the changes in financial technology regulatory environment,” according to a CNBC translation of the statement from Mandarin.

“These issues may result in your company not meeting the conditions for listing or meeting the information disclosure requirements.”

What they are saying

A spokesperson for Ant Group apologised for the delay of its initial public offering and further disclosed that the Group was working through regulatory concerns with the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

“Ant Group sincerely apologizes to you for any inconvenience caused by this development,” the statement read. “We will properly handle the follow-up matters in accordance with applicable regulations of the two stock exchanges. We will overcome the challenges and live up to the trust in the principles of stable innovation; embrace of regulation; service to the real economy; and win-win cooperation.”

What you should know

Recall that Nairametrics broke the news about a week ago on the world’s payment juggernaut, Ant Group, hoping to raise $34.5 billion in its dual initial public offering (IPO) after setting the price for its shares, making it the biggest listing of all in modern history.

• The Chinese financial powerhouse had earlier disclosed that it would divide its stock issuance equally across Chinese major stock exchanges, which include Shanghai and Hong Kong, issuing 1.67 billion new shares at each of those exchanges.
• Ant Group’s Shanghai-listed shares were to be quoted at 68.8 yuan each. The issuing of 1.67 billion shares would raise 114.94 billion yuan or $17.23 billion.
• The Hong Kong-listed shares were priced at 80 Hong Kong dollars each, raising 133.65 billion Hong Kong dollars or $17.24 billion.
• The listing was to produce a return of at least $34.5 billion based on possible demand.

Olumide Adesina

Olumide Adesina is a France-born Nigerian. He is a Certified Investment Trader, with more than 15 years of working expertise in Investment Trading and Financial Market Analysis. Member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Society. You can follow Olumide on Twitter @tokunboadesina or email olumide.adesina@nairametrics.com.