A company no longer operating 'on the fly:' Ant has confirmed its IPO plans.
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Ant Group (formerly Ant Financial) has announced that it plans a dual listing on the Hong Kong Exchange and the Shanghai Star Market. The fintech company is the parent company of China's largest mobile pay solution company AliPay. Ant Group was valued at USD 153 billion post its series D financing, and now the valuation is estimated at around USD 200 billion, making it the most valuable unicorn in the world.
Founded in 2014, Ant Group has expanded its business from digital payment solutions to digital financial services, including wealth management, micro-financing and insurance. Meanwhile, the company has extended its reach to over nine regions worldwide – notably to Southeast Asia – by forming strategic partnerships.
Alibaba reported a gain of USD 752 million from its equity investment in Ant Group in F2019. Estimated from its stake holder’s financials, the net profit of Ant Group was around USD 2,279 million in the past 12 months as of March 31, 2020. Worth mentioning is that digital financial services had contributed more than 50% of Ant Group’s overall revenues for the foregoing 12 months as of March 31, 2020.
SMIC (688981:SH, 00981:HKEX) is currently the most valuable company in the Star Market, with a market cap of CNY 587 billion (USD 83 billion). With its current valuation, Ant Group’s size on the Star Market is tantamount to a cargo ship in a pond. Under Sino-American tensions, a dual-listing plan in Hong Kong and Shanghai is probably the best fit for the Chinese unicorn. Even with such an IPO plan, Ant Group may still create the largest IPO record on the young Star Market.