Ant Financial said on Thursday it has fully acquired London-based currency exchange service WorldFirst, flexing its financial clout. FinanceAsia takes a look at how far it has come in fulfilling its global ambitions.
The $700 million price tag makes WorldFirst the largest overseas purchase by Ant Financial since its inception in October 2014.
It is also the Chinese online payment giant's first major foray into a developed market after making smaller investments in emerging markets like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia.
"Alipay and WorldFirst’s capabilities and international footprints are highly complementary, and together, we will be able to better serve small businesses and promote financial inclusion around the world," Ant Financial said in a statement.
"The tie-up will add WorldFirst’s international online payments and virtual account products to Alipay’s broad range of technology solutions, enabling us to reach a greater number of customers, especially in the fast-growing area of cross border e-commerce," according to the statement.
The Hangzhou-based company is now worth over $155 billion after snapping up a record-breaking $14 billion from institutional investors in the world’s largest ever round of private fundraising last year.
Ant Financial is best known as the operator of Alipay, China’s biggest mobile payment platform, as well as financial service like online money fund Yuebao and micro-loan app Ant Credit Pay.
Self-developed services aside, Ant Financial has built an ecosystem around its financial offerings through external acquisitions.
Through the years Ant Financial has added to its portfolio technology companies that support the transformation of its financial services. It has also acquired stakes in companies that use Alipay as their main form of payment, most notably online consumer and transport-related service providers.
The following charts show Ant Financial’s investments in financial services, technology and big data, transport and logistics as well as consumer and services over the years.
We include only deals involving investment over $10 million.
|
Target Company |
Investment amount |
Co-investors |
Description |
|
Financial Services |
|||
|
|
Temasek JP Morgan UBS CPPIB Li Ka-shing |
China’s largest bank by number of branches |
|
|
|
$700 million | N/A | British currency exchange service |
|
|
$185 million |
N/A |
Chinese insurance arm of Taiwan’s Cathay Financial |
|
|
$185 million |
N/A |
Pakistani Microlender |
|
|
$155 million |
Sinolink Securities Tianhong Asset Management |
China's first cooperative life insurer |
|
|
$40 million |
Sequoia Capital Qiming Venture Partners |
Indonesian financial services provider |
|
|
$31 million |
N/A |
Mutual fund sales and financial information provider |
|
Zhejiang provincial government Yancoal |
Hangzhou-based lender |
||
|
|
Undisclosed |
N/A |
Carbon market cap-and-trade scheme exchange |
|
Nonglian Zhongxin Technology |
Undisclosed |
China Insurance |
Agriculture finance and insurance services provider |
|
|
N/A |
Bangladesh mobile finance app |
|
|
Technology and Big Data |
|||
 |
$460 million |
Russia-China Investment Fund Foxconn SK Group |
Facial recognition startup |
 |
$100 million | N/A | American optical recognition technology developer |
|
|
$40 million |
Samsung |
Artificial intelligence and deep learning startup |
|
|
$38 million |
N/A |
Developer of smart public transport payment systems |
|
Suntime Information Technology
|
$38 million |
N/A |
Chinese private equity fund database |
|
Shenzhen Shun Hui Information Technology
|
$38 million |
N/A |
Smart parking solutions provider |
 |
Undisclosed |
N/A |
Digital product rental app |
|
Transport & Logistics |
|||
 |
Tencent Softbank China Merchants Bank |
China’s biggest ride-hailing app |
|
 |
Alibaba Haofeng Group Tianhe Capital Junli Capital |
Bike-sharing app |
|
 |
Shenzhen Capital Group |
Bike-sharing app |
|
 |
$100 million |
Car Inc |
Second-hand car trading app |
|
Consumer and services |
|||
 |
Alibaba |
Food ordering app |
|
 |
$966 million |
Alibaba |
Service booking app |
 |
$460 million |
Primavera Capital |
Fast food restaurant chain |
 |
$200 million |
Kunlun Group Source Code BlueRun Ventures |
Online consumer lender |
 |
$94 million |
CCB International Tempus Group |
Travel app |
 |
$31 million |
N/A |
Client management and marketing business services provider |
 |
$30 million |
Yunfeng Capital Giant Interactive |
Real estate rental platform |
 |
$16 million |
N/A |
Developer of data management system for private schools |
 |
Undisclosed |
Sequoia Capital China Renaissance |
Staff-less intelligent store operator |
Source: Company announcements, FinanceAsia Research
