China's Ant Financial targets brand boost in South-East Asia with helloPay deal

Going international: The proposed US$880mil (RM3.9bil) deal is a first major step by Ant, the payment affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, to expand its business overseas.

BEIJING: Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has acquired Singapore-based payment service helloPay Group, part of the Chinese firm's drive to boost its Alipay brand and presence in South-East Asia.

helloPay is the payment subsidiary of e-commerce firm Lazada Group, which is majority-owned by Alibaba after a US$1bil (RM4.4bil) deal in 2016, and will be re-branded as Alipay in relevant markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, Ant said in a statement on April 19.