Shares in Alibaba, which still holds a 33% stake in Ant Financial, rose about 3% in premarket trading. Photo: ReutersBengaluru: Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s online payments business Ant Financial now plans to raise $9 billion in its next planned round of funding, potentially valuing the company at $150 billion ahead of an expected stock market flotation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Shares in Alibaba, which still holds a 33% stake in Ant Financial, rose about 3% in premarket trading. A $150 billion valuation would make it one of the biggest public flotations ever, dwarfing this year’s launch of Spotify and Dropbox and comparing to the $104 billion float of Facebook six years ago or Alibaba’s own $168 billion valuation in 2014. Ant Financial, which has not set a timetable for the IPO or indicated a preferred venue, declined to comment.

Source: Mint April 10, 2018 15:56 UTC