One of China’s largest state-owned asset managers will control a 24 per cent stake in Ant Group’s consumer finance company, after joining a Rmb22bn ($3.5bn) fundraising exercise that will more than triple its registered capital.
China Cinda Asset Management, which is owned by the country’s finance ministry, said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it will contribute Rmb6bn, giving it a 20 per cent stake in Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance. Cinda will effectively hold another 4 per cent through a subsidiary, Nanyang Commercial Bank.
Ant is controlled by Jack Ma, the embattled internet tycoon, and has been pressured by Chinese regulators to increase its capital base and introduce state investors ever since its $37bn initial public offering, which would have been the world’s largest, was blocked just days before its debut in November 2020.