As Ant Group IPO nears, investors get a look under the hood while Alibaba gets and early bump

As Ant Group IPO nears, investors get a look under the hood while Alibaba gets and early bump

Proactive Investors

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Shares in Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) moved tentatively higher after investors got their first look under the hood of affiliate Ant Group ahead of the latter’s IPO. According to filings, mobile payment specialist Ant, which is run by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, made a profit last year of US$2.6bn on revenues of US$17.45bn. The documents were released ahead of the dual listing in Shanghai’s STAR market and the Hong Kong market. Reports suggest the eventual valuation of Ant could be anywhere from US$200-$300bn, and the funds raised a massive US$30bn, which would exceed the US$29.4bn taken out of the market by Saudi Aramco. Analysis by Goldman Sachs Monday put the value of Ant, which used to be known as Alipay, US$232bn. Alibaba shares, which are also traded in Hong Kong, were up 1.4% in early trade at US$279.85. On Monday, Goldman increased its price target for Alibaba by 14% to US$315 share following last week’s better than expected quarterlies. It also repeated its ‘buy’ on the stock in the Chinese e-commerce giant and kept it on the coveted ‘conviction list’ of its top investments. “We remain bullish on Alibaba’s market positioning, continuous innovation and strong execution,” said Goldman in a note to “In additional to China retail, we also expect the company to continue to invest and grow on multiple fronts, including International retail, fintech, local services, cloud computing and online entertainment.”

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