ANT Group submitted documents to the securities regulator for registration of the Shanghai portion of its initial public offering (IPO), the Shanghai Stock Exchange said late Tuesday, moving a step closer to a planned dual listing expected to be worth about US$35 billion.

The financial technology firm, backed by China’s biggest e-commerce company Alibaba Group, plans to list simultaneously on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market and in Hong Kong, in what sources have said could be the world’s largest IPO and come as soon as October.

The Shanghai bourse approved the listing plan last week.

The company is seeking to raise about US$35 billion in the IPO after assessing early investor interest and based on a higher valuation of about US$250 billion or more, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Separately, five domestic asset managers said in their respective statements they would start raising up to 60 billion yuan (US$8.83 billion) combined from Friday for mutual funds that would participate in Ant’s IPO as strategic investors.

The fundraising period is two weeks, and each fund, with a lock-in period of 18 months, aims to raise up to 12 billion yuan. (SD-Agencies)