Obstacles mount for Ant listing

摘要

ANT GROUP may have to rethink the timing of its mammoth US$35bn Hong Kong and Shanghai listing as a slower-than-expected approval process and the threat of US trade restrictions add to the challenge of completing a record IPO in the middle of a US presidential election. The US State Department has submitted a proposal for the Trump administration to add the Chinese digital payment giant to a trade blacklist, which makes it more difficult for US firms to sell high-tech items to it, Reuters reported last Wednesday. This is after US Senator Marco Rubio called on October 9 for the US government to consider options to delay the IPO of Ant, the fintech affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding. In a statement to Reuters, Rubio said it was "outrageous that Wall Street is rewarding the Chinese Communist Party's blatant crackdown on Hong Kong's freedom and autonomy" by arranging Ant Group's IPO. CICC, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are the sponsors for Ant's Hong Kong IPO, and Credit Suisse is a joint global coordinator. CICC and China Securities are sponsoring the Shanghai Star listing.