Ant Group says no plan for IPO, focusing on business optimisation

“Ant Group has been focusing on its business rectification and optimisation, and does not have a plan for an IPO,” the company spokesperson said.

Ant Group said on Saturday that its founder Jack Ma no longer controls the company after a series of shareholding adjustments that saw him give up most of his voting rights.

Ma’s ceding of control comes as Ant is nearing the completion of its two-year regulatory-driven restructuring, with Chinese authorities poised to impose a fine of more than $1 billion on the firm, Reuters reported in November.

China’s domestic A-share market requires companies to wait three years after a change in control to list. The wait is two years on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR market, and one year in Hong Kong.

Ant’s $37 billion IPO, which would have been the world’s largest, was cancelled at the last minute in November 2020, leading to a forced restructuring of the financial technology firm and speculation the Chinese billionaire would have to cede control.

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