EXCLUSIVE: The IPO of Chinese Company ‘Ant Group’ Is Promoted by the US Media But In Reality It May Be the Huawei of the Financial Services Industry

Ant Group is being touted as one of the biggest IPO’s in history.  The China company however is not listing in the US  but rather in Hong Kong and Shanghai. 

There is a reason for this that is not a critique of President Trump but is a compliment to the President and other countries need to be aware of this.

Ant Group shares on its webpage that it currently is in 60 countries with over 780 customers:

Yahoo News reported a week ago on the Chinese company Ant Group and it’s pending IPO in Hong Kong:

The US capital markets are being shunned by the largest initial public offering in history. This is an indirect result of the recent China-baiting by US politicians, led by Donald Trump.

Ant Group’s US$200 billion (£168 billion) flotation would normally have been a candidate for either the NYSE or NASDAQ, but will instead take place on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (as well as Shanghai). This is especially galling to the US stock markets considering American financial royalty Citigroup, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are among those overseeing the listing.

Ant Group is an online payments powerhouse that grew out of Alibaba, China’s answer to Amazon, and is ultimately controlled by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and his longstanding executives. The fact that it not listing in the US looks very likely to be the latest installment in the very real and potentially dangerous political spat taking place between China and the US.

Yahoo makes it sound like the fact that Ant Group’s IPO is not in the US is a bad thing. 

So does CNN which praised Ant Group’s IPO in Hong Kong a couple weeks ago:

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma could be about to pull off a record-breaking IPO for the second time

Ant Group, the financial affiliate of Ma’s e-commerce company Alibaba (BABA), filed this week to list its shares in Hong Kong and on Shanghai’s Star Market, China’s Nasdaq-like tech board.  The company is reportedly seeking to raise $30 billion, according to the Financial Times and Reuters, citing people close to the process or with knowledge of the matter. Ant Group did not disclose how much it hoped to raise, and a spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

The New York Times also reported:

Ant Group, the payment- and finance-focused sister company of the Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba, filed paperwork on Tuesday to list shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the first steps toward what could be a blockbuster initial public offering.

Online finance has exploded in China in recent years, and Ant’s flagship service, Alipay, has been a key driver. Relatively few people in China had credit cards when e-retail and other internet services began taking off in the country. That has helped app-based payments become far more ubiquitous in China than they are in the West.

What these articles do not tell you is that Ant Group may be the Huawei of the financial services industry. 

This may be why Goldman Sachs delayed getting involved in the Ant Group IPO until Friday:

Goldman Sachs, an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City, has joined syndicate for Chinese financial technology firm Ant Group IPO of up to $30 billion, two people with direct knowledge told Reuters.

Ant Group, an affiliate company of the Chinese Alibaba Group, plans to list simultaneously in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in what sources have said could be the world’s largest IPO and come happen next month, according to Reuters.

The concerns with the Ant Group from a US perspective is that the entity will likely be processing credit card applications and online payments.  The challenges with this is that US information will be managed and maintained by the CCP.

Also, another concern is that although the company is linked to the CCP it is also suspected that all US emerging market funds will be buying into it.

This is the equivalent of US companies investing in the CCP.

Another concern is that fact that the IPO is happening in Hong Kong at the same time the CCP is squashing individual freedoms and the representative form of government that was in place until this past year.  China put the hammer down on Hong Kong earlier this year and still keeps the small country on strict COVID-19 controls (since January).

Based on the above, it is likely that the US government steps in to halt US activities and investments with this company.