London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 19, 2025

Jack Ma’s Ant Fuels Tech IPO Frenzy Not Seen Since Dotcom Bubble

Jack Ma’s Ant Fuels Tech IPO Frenzy Not Seen Since Dotcom Bubble

Ant Group’s potentially record-sized initial public offering could propel technology capital-raising in 2020 past the dizzying heights of the dotcom bubble, an extraordinary showing in a pandemic-stricken year fraught with geopolitical uncertainty.

Jack Ma’s Chinese financial titan aims to raise at least $30 billion in Hong Kong and Shanghai in October, which could push global first-time share sales by tech firms well past $57 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

That would be the highest since 1999, when tech companies raised $62 billion and famously ushered in a plethora of now-defunct internet outfits.

After an initial pandemic-induced lull, corporate share sales have come back with a vengeance, luring many of the same investors who pushed Apple Inc.’s market cap past the $2 trillion mark and ignited a broad rally in internet companies worldwide.

Ant joins a stampede of companies that began trying to sell shares in recent weeks, from food delivery behemoth DoorDash Inc. to Airbnb Inc. July’s almost $19 billion in new listings was the busiest month for U.S. IPOs since September 2014, when 36 companies including Ant-affiliate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. went public while raising $36 billion.

“The multiple environment for technology companies is at the highest since the dotcom bubble,” said Lauren Cummings, co-head of technology equity capital markets for the Americas at Morgan Stanley. “2020 is the year a lot of companies are going public but there are still many high quality companies, probably multiple times of what we have this year, that are quality companies, that are scaled, that can go public next year.”

Feeding Frenzy

Global technology debuts in 2020 could surpass dotcom-bubble heights


Investors have questioned whether a 2020 run-up that’s lifted marquee names from Apple and Facebook Inc. to Tencent Holdings Ltd. is fueling a bubble akin to that of two decades ago, which brought down much of the fledgling internet economy when it popped.

Beyond the fundamentals however, there are several unique aspects to this year’s tech mania.

One is sheer size. Ant’s giant offering may skew comparisons with 1999, particularly if it surpasses Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion IPO last year as the largest in history.

The past year has featured an unusual number of first-time share sales on Hong Kong or mainland bourses by Chinese companies already listed abroad, fearing a backlash from an increasingly belligerent Trump administration.

They include Alibaba, JD.com Inc. and top chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.

The rise of the hyper-local ChiNext and Star markets in China has also inflated 2020’s pipeline. Punters on the mainland have gobbled up loss-making debutantes like never before -- triggering first-day rallies of more than 2,000% in some cases -- in part because they believe Beijing will offer financial and other forms of aid for a Chinese tech sector perceived as essential given the Trump administration’s restrictions on trade.

Finally, the unknown extent of the global economic downturn caused by the pandemic has led some companies to rethink their capital needs or speed up plans.

Airbnb, which was previously seen as a candidate for a direct listing, said this month it filed for a traditional initial public offering. Last week, on Monday alone, four biomedical companies, four blank-check companies and five software companies, including Unity Software Inc., filed to go public.

“The year has been really busy for equity capital markets deals so far despite all the headline news,” said Tucker Highfield, co-head of equity capital markets for Asia Pacific at Bank of America Corp.. “We expect to see strong IPO markets to the end of year as investors continue to look for higher returns.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
×