Alibaba’s Ant Group Makes Preparatory Filing in China for Giant IPO

Ant Group, the fintech arm of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding, has made a preparatory filing with China’s securities regulator for its planned blockbuster initial public offering.

The group, China’s biggest mobile payments company, said in July it had started the process for a dual listing in Hong Kong and on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-like STAR market, kicking off one of the world’s most hotly anticipated IPOs.

Ant Group did not disclose the size, timetable or other details of the offering at the time.

The company is being advised on a domestic listing by CICC and CSC Financial, a filing published on the official website of Zhejiang Regulatory Bureau of China Securities Regulatory Commission showed on Friday, suggesting the two Chinese investment banks will be leading its onshore IPO.

Reuters reported earlier last month that Ant was planning a Hong Kong float as soon as this year, targeting a valuation of more than $200 billion. It was valued at about $150 billion in its last funding round in 2018.

(Reporting by Kane Wu. Editing by Jane Merriman)