Ant Group spin-offs pursue independent growth with strategic capital moves

Three spin-offs from Chinese fintech firm Ant Group are rapidly increasing their capital-raising activities as they pursue independent growth strategies, according to financial reports. Following their operational separation from Ant Group in 2024, Ant Digital Technologies is preparing for a financing round ahead of its initial public offering, though specific details remain undisclosed.

Ant International, the company's overseas payments subsidiary, has recently completed a US$1.2 billion Series A round, though it refrained from disclosing the post-money valuation. Meanwhile, database developer OceanBase is seeking its first external equity financing, emphasizing its commitment to data technology and product innovation in the era of artificial intelligence.

These capital-raising moves illustrate how the three entities are now building separate capital structures to raise funds independently, a strategy adopted after Ant Group's aborted listing attempt in 2020. In March 2024, Ant Group announced that each spin-off would establish its own boards and operate autonomously, introducing unique employee share-option programs to cater to their startup-like status.

Ant International, with its extensive international footprint, offers cross-border payment services, merchant payment solutions, digital-account platforms, and embedded-finance offerings. The company's latest financing will bolster its expansion in cross-border payments, digital commerce, and AI-powered services. Ant International operates in partnership with banks, card networks, mobile-payment providers, and technology firms, serving approximately 150 million merchants and 2 billion consumer accounts.

Ant Digital Technologies specializes in enterprise technology developed within Ant Group, focusing on blockchain, privacy computing, digital identity, risk control, mobile-development tools, and cloud-native infrastructure. The company recently introduced Agentar 2.0, an AI assistant platform designed to help businesses build and deploy AI agents.

OceanBase, which originally developed distributed database technology for Ant Group's Alipay, underwent a share-swap in 2024 to establish an independent ownership structure. The new shareholders include entities associated with Ant Group employees and investment firms like HongShan, Yunfeng Capital, and China Capital Investment Group.

Despite operating independently, OceanBase continues to collaborate with Alibaba Cloud to sell its database products.