Tuesday, 2024 April 16

Deals | What is Beyond a Unicorn? Ant Financial

Ant Financial, Alibaba‘s financial unit, is reportedly in talks with investors to raise over $10 billion in a round which would value the unicorn at a $150 billion valuation, Bloomberg reports on Wednesday.

The company is going to become the world’s biggest unicorn post-investment. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings seeks to lead the round which portends a hotly anticipated IPO, according to the same Bloomberg report.

Two months ago, Alibaba bought a 33% stake in its affiliate Ant Financial to strengthen the strategic relationship between the two companies. On Monday, executive chairman of Ant Financial, Lucy Peng stepped down to double down the business growth of Lazada in Southeast Asia, while CEO Eric Jing took the additional role as new executive chairman.

“Ant Financial doesn’t have a timetable or a plan for an IPO,” said a spokesperson from Ant Financial when approached by KrASIA on Monday.

Ant Financial, developed from Alipay that was founded in 2004, offers a broad range of services including mobile payment, wealth management, credit scoring, and loans.

Xiaochun Zhao
Xiaochun Zhao
I'm Xiaochun with KrASIA [kri’eɪʃə], a newborn digital media with a dedication to help Asia uncover its innovations and to create.
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