螞蟻金服估值逾450億美元

Ant Financial, Alibaba’s online payments affiliate, has completed a fund raising that values the company at $45bn-$50bn, according to people close to the Chinese ecommerce group.

熟悉阿里巴巴(Alibaba)情況的人士表示，該集團在線支付分公司螞蟻金服(Ant Financial)已完成一輪募資，令其估值達到450億美元到500億美元之間。

The $45bn-$50bn valuation would place Ant Financial among the world’s most valuable private technology companies, alongside smartphone maker Xiaomi and US car hailing app Uber.

450億美元到500億美元的估值，將令螞蟻金服與智能手機制造商小米(Xiaomi)及美國打車應用優步(Uber)一道，成爲全球估值最高的未上市高科技企業。

Xiaomi was valued at $45bn last year, while Uber is reportedly in the process of raising funds that value it at $50bn.

去年，小米的估值曾達到450億美元。而優步據報道也在募資過程中，其估值在這輪募資中達到500億美元。

Ant Financial operates Alipay, the Paypal-like online payments company, that handled $778bn in the year to end-June 2014, according to Alibaba.

螞蟻金服旗下運營着類似Paypal的在線支付公司支付寶(Alipay)。根據阿里巴巴的說法，在截至2014年6月底的一年裏，支付寶處理的支付業務規模達7780億美元。

That is three times the amount handled by US peer Paypal, and equivalent to one-third of the $2.5tn in total global online payments last year, according Juniper Research.

根據Juniper Research的說法，這一數額是其美國同行Paypal的三倍，也等於去年全球2.5萬億美元在線支付總額的三分之一。

Last year Ant Financial was among a handful of internet companies given permission to open an internet bank, with the launch scheduled for next week.

去年，螞蟻金服成爲少數幾家被許可創辦互聯網銀行的互聯網企業。該公司定於在下週啓動這一銀行。

Ant Financial’s main shareholder is Jack Ma, Alibaba’s chairman, while other shareholders include David Yu, co-founder of Yunfeng Capital, Mr Ma’s private equity fund. Mr Yu was among the investors in the latest Ant Financial private share placement, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

螞蟻金服的主要股東是阿里巴巴董事長馬雲(Jack Ma)，其他股東包括雲鋒基金(Yunfeng Capital)聯合創始人虞鋒(David Yu)。雲鋒基金是馬雲的私募股權基金。知情人士表示，虞鋒是螞蟻金服最新一輪私人配股的投資者之一。

China Development Bank Capital, an investment arm of China Development Bank, was another investor, according to a person familiar with the transaction. Ant Financial has also revealed that investors include China’s National Social Security Fund.

熟悉該交易的知情人士表示，中國國家開發銀行(China Development Bank)旗下的投資分公司國開金融(China Development Bank Capital)，也是螞蟻金服的投資方。此外，螞蟻金服還曾披露其投資方包括中國全國社保基金(National Social Security Fund)。

Ant Financial refused to disclose the amount of funds raised, nor the number of shares placed.

螞蟻金服拒絕透露募資規模，也拒絕透露定向配股的股份數。

Mr Ma has previously said that Ant Financial has plans for an initial public offering in China but has declined to say when, although press reports have suggested that the likely date would fall in 2017.

在此之前，馬雲曾表示螞蟻金服有計劃在中國上市，但拒絕透露何時上市。不過，多家媒體報道暗示，可能的日期會落在2017年。

“We don’t deny were working towards an IPO, but we don’t have a timeline,” said Ant Financial.

螞蟻金服表示：“我們不否認正在向着上市努力，但我們沒有上市時間表。”

Alipay was the subject of one of China’s most controversial corporate governance scandals, when in 2011 Mr Ma took it out of Alibaba and placed it under the direct control of himself and some associates. Yahoo, at the time a 40 per cent shareholder in Alibaba, was among the main protesters.

2011年，馬雲將支付寶從阿里巴巴剝離，並將其置於自己及部分合夥人的直接控制之下，此舉令支付寶陷入中國最具爭議的企業治理醜聞之一。當時，持有阿里巴巴40%股份的雅虎(Yahoo)，是主要的抗議者之一。

Mr Ma claims he needed to do this in order to satisfy new Chinese regulations on online finance. Alibaba later settled with Yahoo and SoftBank, the Japanese technology group that is its other major shareholder.

馬雲聲稱，爲滿足中國在網絡金融領域的新規定，他不得不這麼做。在那之後，阿里巴巴與雅虎和軟銀(SoftBank)達成了和解。軟銀是一家日本高科技集團，也是阿里巴巴另一家大股東。