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The Ant Group Co. headquarters in Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. Alibaba Group … [+] Holding Ltd.’s fintech affiliate Ant Group Co. had its initial public offering torpedoed just before last year’s Singles’ Day shopping event. In the months since, the company has been forced to overhaul its business and its ubiquitous super-app Alipay, a one-stop shop for the financial needs of a billion users, is on the brink of being sliced up. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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Ant Group—backed by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba—has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Singapore-based fintech company 2C2P as the operator of e-wallet Alipay expands further into Southeast Asia.
“This partnership is a win-win collaboration built on strengths and the shared vision to accelerate the digital transformation for businesses through innovation and best-in-class payments solutions,” Angel Zhao, president of Ant Group’s International Business Group, said Monday in a statement. “We look forward to supporting businesses’ digitalization together and creating a connected digital ecosystem across markets in the region.”
Ant—whose $35 billion initial public offering in late 2020 has been delayed amid a regulatory crackdown in China—has been expanding across Southeast Asia in recent years, acquiring stakes in e-wallet companies including Indonesia’s Dana, Malaysia’s TNG Digital, Philippines’ GCash, Thailand’s Ascend Money and Vietnam’s eMonkey.
Through the strategic partnership with Ant, 2C2P said its pool of global and regional merchants inclusive will be connected with Alipay+, extending geographical reach to provide more payment options to over one billion consumers globally. The partners didn’t disclose financial details of the transaction.
“Digital payment adoption has accelerated rapidly in recent years, spurred by the pandemic, with mobile wallet payments widely gaining momentum across Asia,” Aung Kyaw Moe, founder and CEO of 2C2P said. “Through this complementary partnership with Ant Group, 2C2P will be connected to a much larger merchant base and be well-positioned to advance our international expansion strategy.”
Founded in 2003, 2C2P provides global payment services to businesses across sectors such as e-commerce, financial services and travel. The company was last valued at $214.7 million in April 2020 when it raised about $32 million in a funding round, according to VentureCap Insights. Among its investors are Arbor Ventures, Cento Ventures and the International Finance Corp.
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