Jack Ma's Ant Group files for IPO, which could reportedly be the biggest ever

• Jack Ma's Ant Group filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong and Shanghai on Tuesday, aiming to speed up its move into the financial-services industry.
• The company is targeting a $225 billion valuation and could raise as much as $30 billion in the offering if demand holds up, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
• Such an IPO would beat Saudi Aramco's record debut. The oil giant raised $29 billion during its December offering at a historic $1.7 trillion valuation.
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The billionaire Jack Ma's Ant Group plans to go public, and proceeds from the event could surpass Saudi Aramco's record $29 billion windfall, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

The Alibaba affiliate filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong and Shanghai on Tuesday to fund the growth of its financial-services business. Ant aims to issue 10% in new shares of its total capital, the filing said.

The company is targeting a valuation of about $225 billion, which could raise roughly $30 billion if market demand holds up, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

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Such a debut would edge out Saudi Aramco's IPO proceeds from 2019. The oil giant sold 3 billion shares in early December at a $1.7 trillion valuation. While the $29 billion in funds raised set a record, some experts view the milestone as questionable because of the Saudi government's involvement in the deal.

Ant plans to speed up its formation of an online marketplace for everything from household goods to loans. The company most recently began pushing into the financial industry, leveraging data from its Alipay app to offer customers robo-advising and banking services.

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Ant brought in 72.5 billion yuan ($10.5 billion) in revenue through the first half of 2020 and notched a profit of 21.2 billion yuan ($3.1 billion).

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