The founders of Alibaba and Tencent have bought shares in Ping An Insurance, in a move that puts Ping An, China’s second-largest insurer, in pole position to seize market share in China’s fast-developing internet finance sector.
In Hong Kong’s biggest standalone equity fundraising this year, the company raised HK$36.5bn ($4.7bn) in a private placement of new shares with up to 10 investors, the company said in an exchange filing.
The investment is the latest to be made jointly by Jack Ma and Pony Ma, China’s two most famous internet entrepreneurs. Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba Group, made a personal investment in Ping An, a person at Alibaba told the Financial Times, while financial magazine Caijing reported that Pony Ma, founder and chairman of Tencent Holdings, also bought shares. It is unclear how much either man bought.