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China's securities regulator said it was not conducting any assessment regarding the potential resumption of Ant Group's stock offering, denying a report from Bloomberg News this week that authorities have started "early stage discussions" over the matter.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a one-sentence statement late Thursday that it "has not conducted any assessment or research in this regard", but that it supports "qualified platform enterprises to go public in domestic and overseas markets".
Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of South China Morning Post owner Alibaba Group Holding, also denied it was working to revive the plan. The initial public offering (IPO) in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which would have raised almost US$40 billion, was blocked in November 2020, preceding a trillion-dollar tech-sector crackdown.
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"Under the guidance of regulators, we are focused on steadily moving forward with our rectification work and do not have any plan to initiate an IPO," the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Screen capture of a denial by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) regarding media report of the regulator setting up a working committee on Ant Group's IPO. Photo: Screen grab alt=Screen capture of a denial by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) regarding media report of the regulator setting up a working committee on Ant Group's IPO. Photo: Screen grab>
Speculation about Ant's fate resurfaced in recent days after the firm reshuffled its board of directors, adding Laura Cha Shih May-lung - chairwoman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and a member of the Hong Kong government's Executive Council - as an independent director.
Cha was a deputy chairwoman at the CSRC for over three years from early 2001 to September 2004.
Separately, Reuters also reported on Thursday that China's central leadership has given a "tentative green light" to Ant to resume its IPO plans in both Shanghai and Hong Kong.
During the first quarter this year, Ant Group granted billions of yuan in cash dividends to its shareholders for the first time since it brought in investors in 2015, according to Alibaba's quarterly financial report published last month.
Ant's biggest shareholders include Alibaba Group. Others including its founder Jack Ma and other Alibaba executives have promised not to cash out the dividends.