Alibaba's Stock Falls As Ant Group IPO Is Suspended In China

Less than 48 hours before what's expected to be the largest IPO in history, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has suspended the IPO of Ant Group, the financial company partially owned by Alibaba Group Holding BABA.

What Happened: The Shanghai Stock Exchange is temporarily postponing the IPO, according to the South China Morning Post.

Ant Group senior executives met with China’s top financial regulators earlier this week. Reports now say Ant Group may not fulfill the listing requirements or disclosure rules for the Chinese stock exchange.

Ant Group and Alibaba Founder Jack Ma met with four Chinese regulators, including the People’s Bank of China. Ant Group Executive Chairman Eric Jing and Chief Executive Simon Hu were also part of the meeting.

“On November 2, 2020, Ma as a controlling shareholder of Ant Group and Ant’s management team met with Chinese regulators,” reads a statement from Ant Group.

The company states it's “committed to implementing the meeting opinions in depth.”

Related Link: Jack Ma Says Ant Group’s IPO To Be The Largest In Human History

Why It’s Important: Ant Group is expected to become the world’s largest IPO, raising over $34 billion. The IPO is expected to value Ant Group at over $310 billion.

Alibaba Group will own over 31% of Ant Group after the IPO. Reports say the IPO is oversubscribed with bids exceeding the value of shares by 870x.

Shares of Alibaba Group are down 7% to $288.73 in pre-market trading Tuesday.