CNN
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Chinese billionaire Jack Ma will no longer control Ant Group after shareholders of the fintech giant agreed to reshape its shareholding structure, according to a statement from the company on Saturday.
According to the statement and CNN calculations, after the adjustment, Jack Ma’s voting power will drop to 6.2%.
According to the IPO prospectus submitted to the stock exchange in 2020, before the restructuring, Jack Ma held 50.52% of Ant’s voting rights through Hangzhou Yunbo and two other entities.
Ant added in the statement that the voting rights adjustment is a move to make the company’s shareholder structure “more transparent and diversified” and will not lead to any change in the economic interests of any shareholder.
Ant stated that the 10 largest shareholders, including Jack Ma, have agreed to no longer act in concert when exercising voting rights, and only vote independently, so no shareholder “has individual or joint control over Ant Group.”
Voting rights were overhauled after Chinese regulators halted Ant Financial’s $37 billion IPO in November 2020 and ordered the company to restructure its business.
Ant Financial applied to increase its registered capital from US$1.2 billion to US$2.7 billion as part of the company’s restructuring. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission recently approved the application, according to a government notice issued late last week.
After the financing is completed, Ant Group will control half of its primary consumer finance unit, while an entity controlled by the Hangzhou municipal government will own a 10 percent stake. Hangzhou is where Alibaba and Ant Financial have been headquartered since their establishment.
Ant Group is the fintech subsidiary of Alibaba, both founded by Jack Ma.