Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (阿里巴巴) finance affiliate has increased the amount it is raising to at least US$3.5 billion and gained the support of powerful state-backed investors, people familiar with the matter said.
Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co (螞蟻金服), controlled by Alibaba’s billionaire founder Jack Ma (馬雲), could be valued at about US$60 billion, the people said.
China Investment Corp (中國投資公司), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, and an investment vehicle of China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) are leading the latest round of funding, the people said.
Ant Financial, as the company is known, increased its target after gauging the demand from investors, the people said. It had sought to raise at least US$1.5 billion in only its second round of financing ahead of a potential initial public offering, a person familiar with the matter said in January.
Ant Financial runs China’s biggest online payment service, Alipay (支付寶), and controls the company that manages Yu’E Bao (餘額寶), the nation’s largest money-market fund.
The company has evolved from an outsider in an industry that needed “stirring up,” as Ma described it two years ago, to an online giant now working with the largest state-owned players.
Ant Financial was said to be valued at about US$45 billion after completing an initial round of fundraising in June last year. It is seeking more capital to bankroll an expansion and get into new services such as online banking, as rivals such as Chinese social networking giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) develop their own Internet financial offerings.
The firm has said it will go public, but has not stated a time frame.
JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc,and China International Capital Corp (中國國際金融) are advising Ant Financial on its latest fundraising, the people said.
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