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Ant Group, the Chinese financial services company, has completed the process of its founder, Jack Ma, removal of control over the company. This comes after the People's Bank of China announced on Saturday that Alipay is no longer a controller, and thus, the IPO plan will now proceed.
According to Asia Financial, the central bank posted its decision related to Alipay on its official website. The bank's approval paves the way for an initial public offering, and this means that Jack Ma's control of Alipay is officially over.
Chinese Central Bank's Decision is Crucial for the IPO
Ant Group will now undergo a restructuring which will split the 53% share of voting rights that used to belong to Ma. This will be divided among 10 individuals and entities that will still include Ma. The division is expected to further detach Ant Group from Alibaba.
China's central bank revealed it has decided that Alipay, the mobile payment unit of Ant Group, has no controller post in Ant Group. This decision is very important in the company's aim of putting its IPO plans back on track. This is a crucial step, so with the central bank's approval, a hurdle has been lifted.
Division of Jack Ma's Voting Rights
South China Morning Post reported that restructuring the Ant Group diminished Jack Ma's voting rights; he only has 6.21% now. This used to be over 50%, which has now been divided among Hangzhou Junhan Equity Investment and Hangzhou Junao Equity.
The latter is owned by five individuals with 22.42% voting rights, while the former is owned by Jack Ma and four other individuals who collectively have 31.04% voting rights. It was said that the companies' voting shares were equivalent to the stakes they owned.
A senior financial analyst at BoTong Analysis consultancy firm, Wang Pengbo, said that the restructuring and the resulting organization would be "good for Ant Group's long-term development. "Although a listing in the immediate future is very unlikely, the change paves the way for it to go public in the future," he said.
Photo by: World Economic Forum/Wikimedia Commons(CC BY-SA 3.0)
