⁍ China’s Ant Group will pay bankers selling its shares in Hong Kong up to $198 million in underwriting fees.
⁍ The 24-strong underwriting syndicate will earn 1% of Ant’s IPO proceeds.
⁍ In Hong Kong, it is standard practice for banks to be paid 2% to 2.5% of an IPO’s proceeds.
– China’s Ant Group plans to go public in two parts—in Hong Kong and Shanghai—and it’s aiming to raise $34.4 billion, which would make it the world’s biggest initial public offering ever, reports the Wall Street Journal. The company has set a price range of $8 to $10 per share, which would value it at between $66 billion and $93 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company plans to sell shares in Hong Kong and then sell them in Shanghai, reports Reuters, which notes that the $198 million in underwriting fees paid by the 24-strong syndicate of banks tasked with selling its shares in Hong Kong is “slightly better” than the $60 million paid by Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion IPO in January. “It is common for very large and very high profile deals to pay lower fees. And this is as high profile as it gets in Hong Kong,” a former investment banker tells Reuters. “Banks will have bent over backwards to participate in this IPO irrespective of the lower underwriting fees.”
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ant-group-ipo-fees/slim-pickings-ant-to-pay-bankers-up-to-198-million-in-fees-for-hong-kong-ipo-idUSKBN27B234