Ant Group, the Chinese financial services company controlled by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, is set to raise a gargantuan $34 billion in what would be the world’s largest initial public offering.
The company will list jointly in Hong Kong and Shanghai, raising about $17.23 billion for each market, according to public filings. Shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will be priced at HK$80 ($10.32), and shares on Shanghai’s tech-oriented STAR Market exchange at 68.8 yuan ($10.27). Trading in Hong Kong is expected to begin on November 5. The Shanghai trading date has not yet been disclosed.
Ant Group, formerly Ant Financial, is the parent company of Alipay, the world’s largest platform for mobile and online payments. Originally launched in 2004, it helped pioneer digital commerce in China and today serves about 1.3 billion users globally, the company says. The firm was spun out of Alibaba in 2011.
In its prospectus earlier this year, Ant Group said it has partnerships with more than 2,000 financial institutions.
Ant Group’s public offering would be the largest since oil giant Saudi Aramco raised just under $30 billion for its IPO in 2019, topping the previous record set by Alibaba Group five years earlier.
This post has been updated.