Shanghai, Aug 25th, 2020: The financial firm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba led Ant Group filed for a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
This could be one of the largest IPO since the Covid19 pandemic began in China.
Ant Group operates Alipay, one of China’s leading online payment services. The IPO will be the first dual listing on the Hong Kong exchange and Shanghai’s STAR Market.
However, the company’s filing did not disclose the timetable for IPO and how much money they are looking to raise.
Over a billion users use Alipay to pay for purchases both online and in stores, to send money to friends, and to pay bills. In 12 months that ended in June, Ant Group tallied USD 17 trillion in transaction volume.
In the filing, Ant Group said it plans to use the funds raised from the listing to expand its service offerings, invest in research and development, and to expand its payments business internationally.
Ant Group was valued at USD 150 billion in a private fundraising round in 2018, making it the most valuable startup company in the world.
The company posted revenue of USD 10.5 billion in the first half of this year, an increase of almost 40 percent from the same period in 2019.
The company also runs one of the world’s largest money market funds as well as Zhima Credit, a private credit rating system for its users.