China blocks Jack Ma's Ant Group Co from making biggest stock market debut

China has blocked the $35 billion share sale of Ant Group Co. in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which was supposed to be the world's biggest initial public offering. Ant Group Co. is an affiliate company of the Alibaba Group, owned by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma. The move comes after regulators in China warned that Jack Ma's company faces "major issues".

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Alibaba's shares plunged

According to BBC, Alibaba's shares fell 9.6% in Hong Kong trading after the news broke out on Wednesday. Alibaba's shares also sank in the United States, where the company recorded a fall of 8.1%. Alibaba is listed in both the US and Hong Kong and had previously made a record for the biggest IPO listing in 2014. Ant would have also made the biggest market debut to date, but the suspension in Shanghai and Hong Kong has halted the feat.

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According to the report, the fall in shares of Alibaba cost the company a total of $76 billion, which more than what Ant was supposed to raise with its listing. Alibaba's Jack Ma was reportedly summoned by Chinese regulators for "supervisory interviews". Shanghai stock exchange had earlier informed Ant that it cannot be listed due to some conditions it failed to met because of change to the regulatory environment.  

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Ant, which is valued at $313 billion was expected to sell 11 percent of its shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges. However, the suspension means that the record for the biggest stock market debut will have to with for now. The current record holder for the biggest stock market debut is held by Saudi Arabia's state-owned Aramco company at $29.4 billion, which it made last year. 

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(Image Credit: AP)