Ant Group Plans Concurrent IPOs on Shanghai’s STAR Market, Hong Kong Exchange

Ant Group, the parent company of China’s largest online payment service Alipay and the affiliate of Alibaba Group, Monday announced that it has kicked off a concurrent initial public offering process on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR board and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK).

The listings will help the company accelerate its goal of digitizing the service industry in China and driving domestic demand, as well as position the company to develop global markets with partners and expand investment in technology and innovation, it said in the press release.

“The innovative measures implemented by Shanghai STAR market and the SEHK have opened the doors for global investors to access leading edge technology companies from the most dynamic economies in the world, and for those companies to have greater access to the capital markets,” said Eric Jing, Executive Chairman of Ant Group.

SEE ALSO: Alibaba’s GMV Surpasses $1 Trillion in Past Fiscal Year

As the world’s most valuable “unicorn” and fintech company, Ant is 33% owned by its parent company Alibaba, and is controlled by its founder Jack Ma. Alipay, the company’s mobile payment platform, has reported 2 billion annual active users by March 2020. Reuters reported earlier this month that the Hangzhou-based company is targeting a market valuation of more than $200 million after the IPOs.

“Becoming a public company will enhance transparency to our stakeholders, including customers, business partners, employees, shareholders and regulators,” Jing said.

Shares of the NYSE-listed Alibaba rose 2% to HK$247.1 in pre-market trading on Monday.