v, according to reports.
The state-owned company listed in Hong Kong — China Cinda Asset Management Co.— invested approximately $942 million in Ant’s new subsidiary Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Co., giving them a 20 percent stake. Cinda Asset is one of China’s four biggest bad loans managers launched at the end of 1999, South China Morning Post reported.
See also: Ant Group Gets Green Light For Consumer Finance Operations
Once the deal closes, Ant Group — an Alibaba affiliate — will maintain a 50 percent stake in Chongqing Ant, which was created in June after changing Chinese regulations forced a restructuring last year. (Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.) Cinda will be the second-biggest stakeholder in the new company.
Other state-owned backers in Chongqing Ant include Yufu Capital, which will own a 2.6 percent stake, Sunny Optical Technology will have 6 percent, and Boguan Technology will own 4.407 percent holding.
Current shareholders will reduce their shares in Chongqing Ant, SCMP reported, including Cathy United Bank China, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), China TransInfo Technology, and the bad loans manager China Huarong. Jiangsu Yuyue Medical’s 4.99 percent stake will remain the same.
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The new subsidiary was given the green light by officials earlier this year and is headquartered in Chongqing. It was developed to absorb Ant credit services Huabei and Jiebei, which are used by almost 500,000 people in the country, according to multiple reports.
With the new investors, Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Co. will have an estimated valuation of $4.7 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Cinda told the Journal that it plans to be involved in the new venture to the extent that it can establish close cooperation with the leading consumer financial service providers in the industry.
