Jack Ma’s Ant Group revealed it earned Rmb18bn ($2.6bn) in net profit last year as it filed documents for an initial public offering that may raise a record $30bn.
The Chinese payments company has said it wants to sell at least 10 per cent of its shares in a dual offering in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and one person close to the process suggested it was considering selling as much as 15 per cent at a valuation of between $200bn to $300bn. A second person suggested the valuation would be closer to $200bn to $250bn.
That could see it exceed the $29.4bn raised in an IPO by Saudi Aramco last year. Two people with direct knowledge of the situation said Ant would meet investors in the coming days to determine the exact pricing and size of the offering.