China Post Capital invests in Alibaba's Ant Financial

This is the first private equity investment made by state-owned China Post, which becomes the second-largest strategic investor in Ant Financial after the National Council for Social Security Fund (NSSF), Tencent QQ News confirmed with the companies. 

The pension fund took a 5% stake in Ant Financial three months ago in a funding round that was said to value the business at more than $40 billion. Other invertors reportedly included China Development Bank Capital and a company affiliated with David Yu, who set up Yunfeng Capital with Alibaba founder Jack Ma.

Ant Financial was built around Alibaba's Alipay payments system, mutual fund service Yu'e Bao, online credit service Sesame Credit and internet bank Mybank. Separate from the parent company's US-listed business, it is widely expected to pursue an IPO next year.

Ant Financial is forging ahead in financial services innovation with a view to disrupting the traditional bank-led system that has long underserved small businesses. Two months ago, it launched a RMB1 billion ($161 million) venture capital fund to support third-party mobile app developers, shortly after the establishment of the RMB1 billion fund to back internet and finance start-ups.

China Post Group owns the country's largest commercial bank Postal Savings Bank of China. It currently has about 40,000 branches, offering micro-credit to small businesses and individual borrowers. Last month, China Post said the company will cooperate with Alibaba to develop rural logistics and e-commerce businesses.  

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• Topics
• Greater China
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• Alibaba Group
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• Growth capital