Jack Ma’s IPO becomes bigger than India’s GDP; 5 key things to know about Ant Group public issue

Alibaba-owned fintech company Ant Group’s initial public offering (IPO) got massive $3 trillion worth of bids from individual investors across its dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which is more than India’s GDP. Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co Ltd’s shares are likely to trade in Hong Kong and Shanghai on November 5, 2020, two days after US President elections. Ant Financial looks to raise up to $34.4 billion (about Rs 2.54 lakh crore).

According to a Bloomberg report, the bidding for Ant Group IPO was so extreme in Hong Kong that one brokerage’s platform crashed after getting overwhelmed by orders. In Shanghai, retail portion demand surpassed initial supply by over 870 times. The book-building for the Hong Kong listing ran from Monday to Friday, while books for the Shanghai shares were open for one day on Thursday.

Key things to know about Ant Group IPO:

1. At about $315 billion market valuation, Ant Group is worth more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of Egypt ($303 billion), and Finland ($269 billion). Jack Ma’s Ant Group IPO will be the biggest ever in history, taking over the record set by oil giant Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion IPO in 2019. Prior to that, Alibaba was the biggest ever IPO when it raised $25 billion in 2014.
2. According to Bloomberg, Ant Group’s market valuation is bigger than JPMorgan Chase & Company, and Bank of America. Ant is larger than Paypal Holdings Inc.($ 238 billion), and Walt Disney Company ($232 billion). While it is three times larger than IBM Corp and four times bigger than Goldman Sachs Group.
3. Jack Ma, who co-founded Alibaba with $60,000, will become the world’s 11th richest person after Ant Financial’s massive public listing. Jack Ma holds 8.8 per cent stake in the company, making him the Ant Group’s biggest individual shareholder. His stake is worth $27.4 billion based on the stock pricing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which will lift Ma’s fortune to $71.6 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires index.
4. In Ant’s IPO, institutional investors put in orders for 76 billion shares which is over 284 times the initial offering, according to the Shanghai filing. Brokers were willing to lend individual investors credit worth 20 times their investment so they could load up on the shares, according to Bloomberg.
5. Jack Ma is a big fan of number eight, which rhymes with prosperity in China. Six is also considered a lucky number in China. The shares in Shanghai were priced at 68.8 yuan and at HK$80 in Hong Kong.