Ant Group lures Fidelity, T Rowe Price, UBS Asset for a piece of its IPO

T Rowe Price Group, UBS Asset Management, and FMR, the parent of Fidelity Investments, are among the money managers angling for a piece of Ant Group’s blockbuster initial public offering, a person familiar with the matter said.

Each of the firms is considering investments worth several billion dollars in Ant’s Hong Kong-listed shares, tho-ugh they’ve yet to finalise plans and there’s no guarantee they’ll get an allocation, the person said.

Ant is expected to start taking orders for the Hong Kong portion of its dual listing on October 26 and price shares as soon as October 29, people familiar with the matter said. The company may raise about $35 billion in Hong Kong and Shanghai combined, plus another $5 billion after it exercises so-called greenshoe options, they said, adding, the numbers and timeline are subject to change. 

That would give Ant a valuation of $320 billion.

Ant, T Rowe Price, and UBS Asset declined to comment. FMR didn’t reply to an e-mailed request.

Jack Ma’s Chinese fintech giant is one of the most hotly anticipated IPOs in years, on course to make history by surpassing Saudi Aramco’s record $29 billion share sale last year.

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Temasek Holdings, and China’s $318 billion National Council for Social Security Fund are also looking for a slice of the deal.