The shares of the e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd gained 6.3% today by 13.30 local time (05.30 GMT) in Hong Kong after the Chinese regulator of banks and insurers approved the plan for the capital increase of a division of its fintech subsidiary Ant Group.
Ant’s consumer credit division, established in June 2021 with Beijing’s approval, will expand its capital base from 8,000 to 18,500 million yuan (from 1,099 to 2,541 million euros).
Following the transaction, Ant Group will remain the main shareholder of the subsidiary with 50% of its capital, followed by Hangzhou Jintou Digital Technology, a company of the Government of the eastern city of Hangzhou – home of Ant and its parent company – which will control 10%.
The authorization by the authorities represents a new step in the process of restructuring the company’s businesses after Beijing suspended at the last minute the IPO that the company had planned for the end of 2020.
