ANT GROUP’S INSTITUTIONAL BOOK TO CLOSE EARLY IN HK

Ant Group will close institutional order books of the Hong Kong portion of its record-setting dual IPO ahead of schedule due to strong demand, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The institutional book of the $17.2 billion Hong Kong listing was due to close on Thursday, but that deadline will be accelerated to Wednesday 5.00 pm in each region, three people said.

The book was oversubscribed just one hour after the launch on Monday, two separate people said, demonstrating investor frenzy for the initial public offering (IPO) of the Chinese fintech giant that has stoked heavy demand for cash and sent Hong Kong money market rates to five-month highs.

Ant Group declined to comment on the planned early closure of the Hong Kong institutional book.

It is looking to raise up to $34.4 billion in Hong Kong and Shanghai, with the offer split between the two cities, giving it a valuation of about $312 billion.

The sources asked not be identified as they were not authorised to comment to media.

Ant, which operates China’s biggest mobile payments platform Alipay, is an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding.

It will offer 41.76 million shares, or 2.5% of its total shares in Hong Kong, to retail investors whose demand to buy the stock is expected to be strong.

Hong Kong operates a ‘clawback’ system where heavy oversubscription from small investors can result in them getting a greater share.

The prospectus shows the total amount will be increased to 167.1 million shares, or 10% of the deal, if the initial retail allocation is more than 20 times oversubscribed. Meanwhile, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma is set to become the world’s 11th richest person after Ant raises billions in the mammoth IPO, according to the Bloomberg News.

According to Bloomberg former English teacher Ma’s 8.8% stake in Ant is worth $27.4 billion based on the stock pricing, and will lift the entrepreneur’s fortune to $71.1 billion.

That would send him rising up Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, with his wealth exceeding that of Oracle’s Larry Ellison, L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, and individual members of the Waltons, whose family own US retail giant Walmart. Bloomberg said at least 18 other people will become billionaires from the IPO, including director Lucy Peng, the biggest individual Ant owner after Ma, and chairman Eric Jing.

JACK MA IS SET TO BECOME THE WORLD’S 11TH RICHEST PERSON AFTER ANT RAISES BILLIONS IN THE MAMMOTH IPO