Ant Financial is raising US$3B in debt to fund M&A deals: Bloomberg

First By Yon Heong Tung appeared at e27

The news comes right on the heels of its first acquisition in a US-listed company, Moneygram

Alibaba’s online payment service Ant Financial is seeking to raise US$3 billion in debt financing, according to a report by Bloomberg. It added that the funds will be used to finance acquisition deals. Additionally, Ant is looking at a potential IPO by this year.

This development comes right on the heals of its recent deal with American money-transfer company Moneygram, which it acquired for US$880 million — its first US-listed company acquisition.

Ant is one of the largest online payment services in China. The Alibaba spin-off currently has over 450 million users, and aims to increase to two billion by 2020. In April 2016, Ant raised a whopping US$4.5 billion Series B at a US$60 billion valuation. Last year, it was named at the top fintech company in a global fintech innovation list.

Outside its home market of China, Ant has made several significant investments, including Thailand-based fintech startup Ascend Money, and India’s mobile commerce platform Paytm.

First appeared at e27