That represents a steep 75% discount to the $315 billion valuation in 2020 for what was set to be the world's largest IPO had it not been derailed at the last minute by Chinese regulators.
"China needs to resolve the Ant IPO to restore investor confidence," said Wang Qi, chief executive of China-focused asset manager MegaTrust Investment.
For the broader technology sector, Ant's fine marks a key step towards the conclusion of China's bruising crackdown on private enterprises, which began with the scrapping of Ant's IPO in late 2020 and subsequently wiped billions off the market value of several companies.
"At the same time, initiating a stock buyback also indirectly informs investors that the possibility of a short-term IPO recovery is unlikely."
On Friday, Chinese authorities also announced fines against two Chinese banks, an insurer, and Tencent Holdings' (0700.HK) online payment platform Tenpay.
Persons:
Ant, Zhang Zihua, Wang Qi, Jack Ma, Hanyang Wang, Julie Zhu, Josh Ye, Brenda Goh, Zhang Yan, Scott Murdoch, Shri Navaratnam, Kim Coghill
Organizations:
Saturday, Ant, Hangzhou Junhan Equity Investment Partnership, Hangzhou Junao Equity Investment Partnership, Beijing Yunyi, MegaTrust Investment, Fidelity, Reuters, Tencent Holdings, HK, People's Bank of China, Thomson
Locations:
HONG KONG, Hangzhou, Hangzhou Junhan, Beijing, China