Ant Financial to raise US$3 billion in debt to fund expansion
Company to use proceeds for part financing of MoneyGram acquisition
Ant Financial, the financial affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, is planning to raise about US$3 billion through debt financing to fund its ambitious global expansion plans.
The company, which operates China’s largest third-party payments platform Alipay, is reportedly in discussions with bankers to raise the amount via bonds or bank loans.
The company is currently valued at US$60 billion following its US$4.5 billion fundraising round last year, which was touted as the largest private technology funding round in history.
Ant Financial is raising the funds in part to finance its US$880 million acquisition of US-based money transfer provider MoneyGram International and other acquisitions, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.
“It is the market practice for a globalised company like Ant Financial to raise debt in US dollars,” said Ant Financial spokesperson Miranda Shek. She, however, declined to reveal the exact amount of financing the company is targeting to raise. The financing comes ahead of Ant Financial’s plans for an initial public offering, although no concrete timeline has been confirmed.
