Ant Group Co. won approval to raise 20 billion yuan ($3.04 billion) by selling securities backed by consumer loans after a Chinese regulatory crackdown on microlending sank the fintech giant's planned record initial public offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The company sought approval earlier in November for asset-backed securities issued by its consumer microlending units, the operators of the Huabei and Jiebei platforms. After the Shanghai Stock Exchange cleared the listing applications, Ant has an additional 26 billion yuan of ABSs pending approval by the exchange.
