Ant Group rolls out share buyback plan following $1bln fine

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 Jul 2023 13:51

To allow some investors to reduce their stake in Ant Group following the $1 billion fine imposed by the Chinese government due to "illegal acts", the firm launches a share buyback plan.

On this Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, photo, an employee walks past a logo of the Ant Group at their office in Hong Kong (AP)

After the Chinese government slapped fintech giant, Ant Group, with a $1 billion fine for "illegal acts," the firm announced, on Saturday, a share buyback plan to allow some investors to reduce their stake.

With hundreds of millions of monthly users in China and worldwide, Ant operates Alipay, the most popular digital payment platform across the globe. Ant has also been one of the most visible targets of the nation's IT industry's broad crackdown, which has now come to an end.

Ant stated that it intends to buy back up to 7.6% of its equity.

The share repurchase proposal values Ant Group at $78.5 billion, a number much less than the company's staggering $315 billion valuation when it attempted to list in Hong Kong in 2020.

Ant has said that "the repurchased shares will be transferred into Ant Group's employee incentive plans to attract talents," adding that "The repurchase proposal will also provide a liquidity option for the company's investors."

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement: "In view of the illegal and irregular acts by Ant Group and its affiliates in previous years... (the companies) have been fined 7.123 billion yuan (US $984 million)", adding that the penalty "included the confiscation of illegal income".

The CSRC claims that "at present, most of the outstanding problems in the financial business of platform enterprises have been rectified".

"The work focus of the financial management department has shifted from promoting the centralized rectification of the financial business of platform companies to normalized supervision," it continued.