Morning Report: 聽Alibaba鈥檚 financial technology affiliate Ant Financial is raising $9 billion more in funding.
Ant Financial, the financial technology company which houses the widely used Chinese payment service Alipay, is seeking $9 billion in capital ahead of its anticipated IPO . The round may bring the company鈥檚 valuation close to $150 billion, making it the most highly valued unicorn with Uber trailing at a mere $68 billion.
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The company is no stranger to fundraising, picking up a round in April 2016. Further, the company has used its funds to make . For example, Ant Financial invested in and acquired . Most recently, the group attempted a $1.2 billion purchase of Moneygram in January which was Its freshly earned valuation and potential IPO could fund future global payment service acquisitions and give the company a leg up in its competition with Tencent鈥檚 WeChat pay .
Where Does Alibaba End And Alipay Begin?
Ant Financial, which was originally a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, due to Chinese government regulations regarding financial transactions, according to Alibaba founder Jack Ma. The spin out , which were later resolved.
Alibaba in February that it rearranged its profit relationship with Ant Financial. Alibaba鈥檚 original arrangement involved a 37.5 percent piece of Ant Financial鈥檚 pretax profit and 2.5 percent of the value of its outstanding loans yearly . The new deal instead gives Alibaba a 33 percent direct equity stake in the company related to Ant Financial.
From The聽:
- , a New York-based startup that provides dockless electric bikes on demand, sold to Uber in a deal reportedly valued at around $200 million. The deal, coming on the heels of聽鈥檚 $2.7 billion acquisition, indicates the bike and scooter sharing space is still heating up.
- Mark Zuckerberg faces two days of congressional hearings, beginning today, at which he will be grilled about the company鈥檚 ability to protect its users鈥� privacy in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Well-funded AI startups proliferate
- Following a record-setting fundraising round for China-based AI startup SenseTime, 兔子先生传媒 News takes a look at the twenty artificial intelligence companies that have raised the most investment to date.
- Cloud security provider聽聽filed for a $100 million IPO. The Waltham, Mass.-based company, founded back in 2003, previously raised over $190 million in venture funding.
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