(Yicai Global) Oct. 22 -- Ant Group, the world's most valuable unicorn, has secured regulatory approval to list in Shanghai with notable investors, including Alibaba’s online retail unit Tmall, poised to subscribe to what may be the world’s biggest-ever stock market floatation.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission cleared the way yesterday for the fintech giant’s initial public offering on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style Star Market under the ticker [SHA: 688688]. The subscription period will open on Oct. 29.

The owner of mobile payments platform Alipay is pursuing a dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, seeking to raise USD30 billion, the Hangzhou-based company said on July 20. Both the mainland and offshore offerings have now been given the go-ahead. It won approval to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange earlier this week, according to reports.

USD30 billion may be a modest target. Ant is aiming for at least USD35 billion, which would make the IPO the biggest in history, Bloomberg News reported on Sept. 22, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The volume of mainland shares will not exceed 1.67 billion, or 5.5 percent of the total, according to Ant's updated prospectus released yesterday. With a greenshoe option, that could rise to 1.92 billion, or 6.2 percent.

More than 1.3 billion shares, or 80 percent of the total to be listed in Shanghai, will be reserved for strategic investors, a record high amount for the one-year-old Star Market. They need to own the equity for one to two years, which is the longest lock-up period on the sci-tech board where shares can rise or fall by 20 percent a day.

Alibaba Buy-In

Alibaba Group Holding's subsidiary Tmall Technology intends to subscribe to 730 million shares as a strategic investor, per the prospectus. Ant and Alibaba are affiliated companies both set up by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.

China Asset Management and E Fund Management are also looking to enrich their three-year funds with Ant’s equity, according to local media reports. Those reports say that other big-name to want in include China Investment Corporation, the National Council for Social Security Fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Singapore's Temasek Holdings, as well as Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

Ant is confident about the prospects of inclusive digital finance and chooses to develop the field with partners rather than competing with each other in a zero-sum game,Executive Chairman Eric Jingwrote in a letter to investors yesterday.

“We are sure that we will create a larger market and more opportunities by solving problems relying on technology innovation,” Jing said.

The proceeds of the IPO will be mainly used to support the advancement of Ant's digital economy business, innovation, and technology, as well as to strengthen global cooperation and sustainable development, and to supplement working capital.

In the first three quarters of this year, Ant’s revenue rose nearly 43 percent from a year earlier to CNY118.2 billion (USD17.7 billion), driven by Alipay. Gross profit jumped 74 percent to CNY69.5 billion (USD10.4 billion). The company's gross profit margin widened by more than 10 percentage points to 58.8 percent.

Editor: Emmi Laine