Chinese financial supervisors are in early talks about a renewed attempt at a corresponding initial listing, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Ant may soon receive a long-awaited license that would put the company under more bank-like supervision and open the way to an IPO. The Chinese securities regulator CSRC (Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission) denied working on a revival of the IPO. However, the listing of “eligible” companies in China and abroad is supported.
The shares of the Chinese online retail giant Alibaba, which are listed in New York, initially rose significantly before the market, after the price had risen by almost 15 percent the day before. With the reaction of the Chinese regulators, the paper turned negative before the start of trading and recently lost a good two percent. Alibaba holds a one-third stake in Ant Group.
In November 2020, the Chinese authorities thwarted plans for Ant’s mega IPO in the USA shortly before the planned initial listing. The crackdown was part of a larger crackdown on Chinese tech firms that were looking to raise capital on stock exchanges in the United States, or had already done so. With the Bloomberg report, there are increasing signs that Beijing’s tough stance could now come to an end. The actions of the Chinese authorities had put the prices of technology-heavy Chinese companies under pressure.
Most recently, the “Wall Street Journal” reported, citing its own information, that the investigations into the travel agent DiDi and two other companies were about to be concluded. Didi’s ban on taking on new customers could be lifted, and the mobile app should then be offered again in the People’s Republic. China had justified the ban with problems of user data security and referred to national security aspects.
On the NYSE, Alibaba shares temporarily fell by 7.80 percent to $110.29.
/men/zb/jha/
BEIJING/NEW YORK (dpa-AFX)
Leverage must be between 2 and 20
No data
More news about Alibaba
Image sources: THINK A / Shutterstock.com, Piotr Swat / Shutterstock.com