At the same time, the primary offer was expected to bring up to $ 37 billion (CZK 845 billion) to the Chinese financial technology company Ant Group. The sale was scheduled to start on Thursday, but left in twelve minutes.
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“The business of the century has become the shock of the century,” said Francis Lun, head of Hong Kong investment firm GEO Securities.
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Ant Group was founded by the richest Chinese Jack Ma, whose assets are estimated at up to $ 60 billion (CZK 1.4 trillion). The group is a division of the internet sales giant Alibaba.
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The planned primary offer was to be the largest entry into the stock market in history, significantly exceeding the previous record of $ 29.4 billion, which has been held by the Saudi oil company Saudi Aramco since last December.
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But nothing like that will happen on Thursday or in the near future. The company announced that the reason for the stock exchange’s decision is some changes in regulation. According to Reuters sources, the decision to cancel the initial public offering was preceded by Monday’s meeting between Jack My and other senior executives with Chinese regulators. And they were to tell the billionaire and his aides that the lucrative online loans that Ant Group is running would be scrutinized.
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Criticism did not help
Analysts in China see the authorities’ move as a blow to Jack Mu, who wanted the Ant Group, which operates China’s main online payment system, Alipay, to be seen as a technology company, not a strictly regulated financial institution.
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“The Communist Party has shown the mogul who the lord is here. Even if Jack Ma is the richest man in the world, it means nothing, “said Francis Lun.
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It did not help Jack Mo at the meeting a month ago, which was attended by regulators, that he said that the financial and regulatory system is stifling innovation and must be changed to support growth. Ant Group maneuvered public criticism under the scrutiny of regulators, Reuters wrote.
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Shares of parent company Alibaba, which owns about a third of the shares in Ant Group, weakened by more on the New York Stock Exchange after the withdrawal report
than eight percent, the Hong Kong stock market lost 9.6 percent yesterday. The company thus lost in a single day at a market value of about $ 76 billion (CZK 1.7 trillion), ie twice what Ant Group’s listing on the stock exchange was supposed to bring.
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