Ant Group to raise $17.5 billion via Hong Kong IPO without cornerstone investors: sources

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s Ant Group plans to raise about half of its $35 billion dual listing via the Hong Kong leg, without setting up a cornerstone tranche and betting on strong demand from institutional investors even without lock-up commitments, sources said.

Backed by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba , Ant plans to list simultaneously in Hong Kong and on Shanghai’s STAR Market next month, in what could be the world’s largest IPO, surpassing oil giant Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion float last December.

The company is seeking to raise about $35 billion in the dual IPO after assessing early investor interest and based on a higher valuation of about $250 billion or more, Reuters has reported.

Ant did not respond to a request for immediate comment.

(Reporting by Julie Zhu; editing by Jason Neely)