China's Ant Group to Launch World's Largest IPO on Next Month 5th

Jack Ma Becomes World's 11th Richest Person
Unicorn Company ByteDance's 'Douyin' Also Pursues IPO

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Cho Young-shin, Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] While the US stock market is faltering, the world's largest initial public offering (IPO) is imminent in the Chinese stock market. Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba, has set its offering price, securing funding exceeding $34 billion (38.4 trillion KRW).

China's state-run Global Times reported on the 27th that Ant Group set the offering price at 68.8 yuan per share (11,613 KRW) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and 80 Hong Kong dollars (11,644 KRW) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange the day before, submitting the filings to the Shanghai (Science and Technology Innovation Board) and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

Ant Group will issue 1.67 billion shares each on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The $34 billion raised through the IPO surpasses the $25 billion Alibaba raised in its 2014 IPO by $9 billion and also exceeds Saudi Arabia's Aramco's $29.4 billion, which recorded the world's largest IPO last year.

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, stated at a conference held in Shanghai on the 24th, "The offering price of Ant Group has been decided," adding, "This IPO will be the largest in human history."

Ant Group's IPO is also raising expectations for a rally in the Chinese stock market. In particular, following its listing on the 5th of next month, it is expected to coincide with the results of the 5th Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (5th Plenum), potentially boosting the economy and industry.

A securities industry insider forecasted, "After the 5th Plenum, new energy sectors such as overseas e-commerce, semiconductors, and solar power may be highlighted," while another insider assessed, "Future Chinese economic policies are likely to act as a positive factor for the capital market."

Ant Group's IPO is also expected to elevate Jack Ma's global wealth ranking. Bloomberg reported on the 26th (local time) that based on Ant Group's IPO offering price, Jack Ma holds an 8.8% stake in the company valued at $27.4 billion. It added that with this IPO, Ma's total wealth will increase to $71.6 billion (approximately 81 trillion KRW), placing him among the world's top 11 richest individuals.

This surpasses figures such as Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Fran?oise Bettencourt Meyers, granddaughter of the founder of L'Or?al, and MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

ByteDance, regarded as the world's largest unicorn company, is also attracting attention in the Chinese stock market. ByteDance is reportedly planning an IPO by separating TikTok's China business.

CNBC reported on the 26th (local time), citing a source familiar with the matter, that ByteDance has entered initial negotiations with investment banks to list Douyin, TikTok's China version. Although the timing and market have not been decided, the Shanghai or Hong Kong stock exchanges are considered likely candidates.

Douyin is the Chinese version of TikTok, sharing short videos of around 15 seconds. As of August, it has 600 million users in China. In contrast to the uncertain business prospects in the US due to pressure from the Trump administration, the number of users in China continues to grow. In China, Douyin's revenue has already become ByteDance's main source of income. Last year, ByteDance recorded sales of about $16 billion (18 trillion KRW), most of which reportedly came from Douyin.

CNBC analyzed that ByteDance plans to use the funds raised through the IPO to expand new businesses. ByteDance stated, "We are considering listing some businesses, but nothing has been finalized yet."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.