HONG KONG - The financial services unit of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba plans to purchase a 20% stake in Thailand’s Ascend Money in a bid to become a key financial services player in Southeast Asia.
Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, known as Ant Financial and controlled by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, also wants an option to increase its Ascend Money holding to 30%, according to a statement on the websire of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The agency is currently reviewing the plans.
An investment into Ascend Money, parent of True Money and Ascend Nano, would help Ant Financial expand its online payments and small loans business in Southeast Asia. The company, which is said to be valued at about $60 billion, is following billionaire Ma’s aspirations for global expansion as it ventures into countries including South Korea and India.
Ascend Group Co Ltd was spun off from True Corporation and is a subsidiary of the Charoen Pokphand Group Co Ltd, which has interests in agriculture, retail businesses and telecommunications.
Ascend Nano is a microfinance and personal loans provider with staff throughout Southeast Asia. Its goal is to spread e-commerce and electronic payments services to places where many users lack bank accounts such as Myanmar and Indonesia.
True Money provides cash cards and electronic wallets, and holds financial-services licences in key Southeast Asian markets.
Ascend Group CEO Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa said in April that the company would spend 6 billion baht on expansion this year, 83% of which would be spent outside of Thailand.
"The pending investment reflects our commitment to expand internationally, and to bring equal access of financial services to more users around the world," Ant Financial said in an-e-mailed statement. "The investment is conditional on approval from the Anti-Monopoly Division of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce."
Ant Financial received a payment Indian bank licence via Paytm, the country’s largest payments provider with about 122 million users, as of January, Sabrina Peng, vice-president of international business for the company, said in May. In South Korea, it won preliminary approval of an Internet bank license through SK Telecom Co.
Ant Financial is considering an initial public offering on the Shanghai stock exchange as early as this year, people familiar with the matter have said.