Ant Group’s $34 billion IPO was halted by Chinese President, Xi Jinping, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, a week after the mega IPO was unexpectedly stopped by Chinese regulatory authorities.
“Chinese President Xi Jinping personally made the decision to halt the initial public offering of Ant Group, which would have been the world’s biggest, after controlling shareholder Jack Ma infuriated government leaders, according to Chinese officials with knowledge of the matter.
“The rebuke was the culmination of years of tense relations between China’s most celebrated entrepreneur and a government uneasy about his influence and the rapid growth of the digital-payments behemoth he controlled,” WSJ reported.
Last week, Ant Group’s world record-setting IPO, scheduled to hold in Hong Kong and Shanghai, was suspended.
Ant Group’s controller, Jack Ma, Executive Chairman, Eric Jing, and CEO, Simon Hu, were scrutinized by regulators in China, according to a statement seen from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
A spokesperson for Ant Group apologised 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.
sources also reported that experts noted that Ant Group which was planning for the world’s biggest IPO, could see its valuation drop by $150 billion after its public listing was postponed.
