An Ant Group logo is displayed at the company’s Alibaba affiliate headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, October 29, 2020.
Aly Song | Reuters
GUANGZHOU, China – Ant Group will find a “liquidity solution” for employees to monetize shares after its massive initial public offering (IPO) was pulled by regulators, according to a company executive director.
Eric Jing, the chief executive of the Chinese financial technology company set up by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, also pledged to make the company listed.
An employee posted on the Ant Group’s internal message board wondering about the future of the company and how to keep his talent. In response, Jing said the technology giant was looking for a “short-term liquidity solution” for employees to take effect in April, without elaborating on what that might mean, a person who saw the note told CNBC.
Ant Group declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the contents of the message.
Many employees of Ant Group will hold shares in the company as a form of compensation. Usually, employees can collect or monetize those shares if the company is acquired, becomes public or management decides to buy shares.
Ant Group, the owner of the popular Chinese mobile payment application Alipay, was planning a $ 34.5 billion public transaction in Shanghai and Hong Kong in November, which would have been the largest of all time. But regulators forced the company to stop listing two days before it began trading. Ant cited “significant issues, such as changes in the financial technology regulatory environment,” for cancellation.