US$200b IPO for Ant will be a cheap buy

THE stock market continues to stampede away from the real economy. The US Federal Reserve is keeping near-zero interest rates and increasing its holdings in securities. All that liquidity has pushed the stock market to a record high. Apple has reached a US$2 trillion market valuation, the first American company to do so. It’s in this environment that Ant Group has filed for its initial public offering (IPO). The Alibaba company reportedly wants a market valuation above US$200 billion. It’ll be listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong as the largest IPO of all time. If all goes well, Ant will be bigger than Goldman Sachs or Wells Fargo. 

Read more: The Business Times