Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial said to be valued at over $50bn

The latest round of funding for Ant Financial Services Group, the financial-services affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, valued the company at more than US$50 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Ant Financial was said to be undertaking a funding round from new and existing investors that could total up to RMB20 billion (US$3.1 billion) and is expected to be completed by mid-April. The firm runs the Alipay online payment platform vital to the functioning of many of Alibaba’s business ventures and which was controversially separated from Alibaba Group by chairman Jack Ma in 2011. The valuation would make Ant Financial the most valuable online finance company in China.