Chinese digital payments giant Ant Financial said today it had raised USD 14 billion in its latest financing round, making it the world's largest fintech company ahead of an expected mammoth IPO.
The cash infusion for Ant, an affiliate of e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba, provides fresh resources as its payments platform Alipay battles Tencent for supremacy in the vast and growing market for global digital transactions and other financial services.
Ant said in a statement that the funds will be invested in new technologies and to accelerate Alipay's expansion abroad and into new sectors.
Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay are China's online-payments leaders, profiting handsomely as consumers throw themselves into e-commerce, ordering goods and services via mobile apps and online.
Ant Financial did not provide a total value for the company, but Bloomberg News recently reported it was raising funds at a USD 150 billion valuation.
Ant Financial is believed to be planning an IPO expected to become one of the largest in years, amid speculation it could list on one of China's two exchanges.
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