Alibaba’s shares have divebombed more than eight per cent overnight after China blocked the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history from taking place.
Ant Group, the Chinese fintech company founded by Alibaba’s Jack Ma and 33 per cent owned by Alibaba, was due to launch a record breaking $37 billion IPO on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges tomorrow.
However, on Monday Chinese authorities summoned Ant Group’s key executives, including Ma, to a meeting in which they were told Ant’s online lending business would face far tighter scrutiny.