Ant Group, with an IPO valuation reaching over a trillion Chinese yuan, was halted by the Chinese authorities, leading to regulatory intervention. The group’s subsidiary, Ant International, recently announced the completion of its first round of financing, paving the way for its listing in Hong Kong.
On July 21, Ant International, the overseas business entity of Ant Group, successfully completed a Series A financing round of up to $1.2 billion. The funds raised in this round will primarily be used to accelerate global business expansion, including increased investment in AI technology research and development, as well as the deepening of core businesses such as cross-border payments and financial technology.
This financing round received support from existing shareholders such as the parent company Ant Group and Alibaba Group, as well as attracting participation from various international investment institutions. Ant International stated that the raised funds would be focused on expediting global expansion, with a key emphasis on promoting cross-border payments and account management for global small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as research and implementation of other innovative financial technology businesses.
It is reported that since announcing independent operations in 2024, Ant International has identified Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America as its core target markets. Currently, its network has successfully connected over 150 million merchants globally and more than 2 billion consumer accounts, with multiple innovative, settlement, and operational centers established in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Ant International originated from Alipay’s international business arm. Around 2015, Alipay’s overseas business primarily focused on providing services for Chinese tourists’ cross-border consumption, collaborating with international merchants to facilitate Chinese consumers to make payments abroad. At present, Ant International encompasses four core business segments: Alipay+ (cross-border mobile payment solutions), Antom (merchant payment services), Wisepay (B2B cross-border trade payments), and Bettr (SME credit services).
According to a report by “Financial and Economic” magazine on July 22, Ant International’s financing is paving the way for a listing in Hong Kong later this year. Several insiders revealed that the anticipated IPO of Ant International with this financing round aims to expand its revenue scale. A successful listing could become one of the most anticipated financial technology IPOs in the Hong Kong market in recent years, signifying Ant Group’s new path back to the capital market after enduring regulatory challenges.
In mid-October 2020, Ant Group successfully passed the review to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board (“STAR Market”) with a valuation reaching 2.1 trillion Chinese yuan. Originally planned for a dual listing (“A shares + H shares”) in Shanghai and Hong Kong on November 5, 2020, Ant Group’s listing was unexpectedly postponed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on November 3, just days before the scheduled debut. Almost simultaneously, Ant Group also announced the delay of its listing in Hong Kong.
Subsequently, Ant Group underwent a lengthy phase of “supervision” and “rectification”. In July 2023, Ant Group was fined 7.123 billion Chinese yuan.
In February 2021, the Wall Street Journal published an in-depth investigative report. The report unveiled the opaque layers of shareholding tools within Ant Group, disclosing a behind-the-scenes network composed of influential figures such as the family of former CCP leader Jiang Zemin and former Politburo Standing Committee member Jia Qinglin, forming the “Jiang faction” and various elites. Xi Jinping’s halt of its IPO was largely due to the avoidance of a wealth feast that would deliver significant benefits to political families threatening his own political status.
On June 3, 2022, Li Daokui, dubbed the “economic guru of the CCP”, participated in an online seminar hosted by the New Zealand China Council and publicly revealed a detail: Ant Group’s emergency halt before its listing was due to the involvement of numerous government officials and their relatives within its complex underground ownership and interest networks. He specifically mentioned that this process had caused significant negative political impacts, even extending to involve the selection of future city party secretaries. This phenomenon of immense capital power infiltrating and attempting to influence local officials’ personnel appointments “truly frightened the top leadership”.