The financial affiliate of Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba has raised $4.5bn from mostly state-backed investors, in what it said was the largest private placement by an internet company globally.
Investors in the Series B financing round include a unit of China Investment Corp (CIC), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, and a subsidiary of China Construction Bank, the country’s second-largest lender by assets, according to a statement by Ant Financial on Friday.
The latest fundraising values Ant Financial at $60bn, according to China Business News, a respected daily newspaper that is part-owned by Alibaba. The valuation places Ant Financial among the world’s most valuable private technology companies, alongside smartphone maker Xiaomi and US car-hailing app Uber. A previous funding round in June 2015 valued the company at $45bn-$50bn.