Alibaba affiliate Ant Group sets global record with $34B IPO

Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Chinese payment company Ant Group, a spinoff of Alibaba, raised more than $34.5 billion Monday in what's now the largest initial public offering of all-time.

The company said it split its stock introduction between Shanghai and Hong Kong -- with Shanghai shares raising $17.2 billion and Hong Kong $17.2 billion.

That amount tops the previous IPO record of more than $25 billion, set by Saudi Aramco a year ago.

Alibaba subsidiary Zhejiang Tmall Technology said it would buy enough shares to maintain a 33% stake in Ant Group.

Ant made a profit of $2.7 billion and $18 billion in revenue last year. Through its services, which include mobile and online payment platform Alipay, the company said it handled $17 trillion in digital payments in mainland China over a 12-month period ending in June.

Alipay says it has about 730 million monthly users. U.S.-based PayPal counts 346 million active accounts.

Since Ant's spinoff from Alibaba in 2011, China has begun to restrict online and investing practices.