Ant restructures to make international business independent

Ant Group, the fintech giant backed by Alibaba Group Holding, is kicking off a restructuring that will grant greater independence to its international business and other operations, in an effort to spur growth, reports Caixin. Under the revamp, Ant’s overseas unit Ant International, the database operation OceanBase and Ant Digital Technologies will become three independently run business units, with their own board of directors, according to an internal email from CEO and chairman Eric Jing on Tuesday seen by Caixin.

The three companies will adopt their own equity incentive programs that are “more compatible with start-up status” for employees. Ant, as a holding company, will provide governance, technology, risk control and capital supports to the units, according to the letter.

Cyril Han Xinyi, an Ant veteran and the company’s chief financial officer since 2020, will become president of Ant, reporting to Jing, the letter said. Han will oversee payments, connectivity and the digital finance business.