MOSCOW – Jack Ma, the co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, offered to hand over parts of his financial technology giant Ant Group to Beijing in an attempt to save the company’s initial public offering (IPO), which was delayed by Chinese regulatory authorities, reported The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources.
Early last month, the planned record-setting IPO of Ant, a financial service and fintech company affiliated with Alibaba, was suspended by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Ant was expected to raise up to US$34.4 billion (RM139.35 billion) through its IPO in both the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange, making it the largest IPO in history, reported the Sputnik news agency.
“You can take any of the platforms Ant has, as long as the country needs it,” Ma was quoted as saying at a meeting with representatives of Chinese regulators on November 2.
According to WSJ, the offer did not help salvage the IPO as Beijing was angered by Ma’s criticism of its excessive regulations in the national financial industry, which he views as a major obstacle to the growth of new financial services and innovations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is reported to have personally ordered regulators to study the possible risks posed by Ant and suspend the IPO.
No decision has been taken so far regarding Ma’s offer, said WSJ.
Alibaba owns 33% of Ant, which is headquartered in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The company has a leading position in the country’s mobile payments, and also offers credit, insurance and asset management services through mobile apps. – Bernama, December 21, 2020
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