The world’s biggest fintech startup – Ant Group, which was earlier planning for the world’s biggest IPO, could see its valuation drop by $150 billion after its public listing was postponed, according to experts.
In a report credited to CNBC, the experts disclosed that ever since its home country – China, disclosed that there will be tighter regulations as regards to micro-lending, it could trigger the fintech company to hold more capital and make Ant group look a bit more like a traditional bank rather than a tech startup.
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“The biggest risk for Ant will be shifting from a fintech to a capital intensive regulated bank and not losing its competitive connection with consumers,” Eric Schiffer, CEO of private equity firm, The Patriarch Organization, told CNBC by email.
“The proposed regulation decimates Ant’s valuation to more than 1/2, taking it under $150 billion.”
Some days ago, Ant Group suspended its world record-setting IPO scheduled to hold in Hong Kong and Shanghai. A spokesperson for Ant Group apologized for the delay of its initial public offering and further disclosed that the Group was working through regulatory concerns with the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.
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What you should know
The world’s payment juggernaut, Ant Group, was hoping to raise $34.5 billion in its dual initial public offering (IPO), after setting the price for its shares today, making it the biggest listing of all in modern history.
The Chinese financial powerhouse had earlier disclosed previously that it would divide its stock issuance equally across Chinese major stock exchanges, which include Shanghai and Hong Kong, issuing 1.67 billion new shares at each of those exchanges.
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