ANT Group Seeks $225 Billion Valuation
If successful, Billionaire Jack Mar’s ANT Group could reach a record $225 billion valuation with their effort to implement the world’s largest dual initial public offering. If markets in Hong Kong and Shang Hai are favorable, the simultaneous share floating may raise a total of nearly $30 billion as early as October. ANT, which saw profits around $1.3 billion for the March quarter end, is the prize asset of founder Jack Mar’s Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. What began as a fintech application, morphed into a gigantic online shopping platform which now includes everything from financial and travel to food delivery services. The move comes in pursuit of winning back customers who were lost to rival Tencent Holdings, Ltd. ANT is currently pushing to aggressively expand its financial and delivery services, after analyzing data from nearly a billion of its Alipay app users. The plan includes high-tech robo investing technology and expanding advisory services. The dual listing could top the record for the largest IPO debut, surpassing $29.4 billion held by Saudi Aramco. If successful, ANT’s $225 billion valuation would be larger than Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs combined.
Ann Sullivan is a contributing staff writer covering national and world news topics. She brings dedicated experience having written international and domestic news, blogs, and web content for over 20 years. She’s also a published poet and graphic designer with degrees in Business and Graphic Communications and has been a music distributor, music industry sponsorship sales director and band manager.