China Cinda Asset Management, one of China’s biggest state-owned asset managers, will take a 24% stake in Ant Group’s consumer finance company, as part of a RMB 22 billion ($3.5 billion) fundraising round, reports the Financial Times. This cash injection will more than triple the company’s current registered capital.
Cinda, which is owned by the country’s finance ministry, said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it will contribute RMB 6 billion, giving it a 20% stake in Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance. Cinda will effectively hold another 4% through a subsidiary, Nanyang Commercial Bank.
Ant is controlled by Jack Ma, the embattled internet tycoon, and has been pressured by Chinese regulators to increase its capital base and introduce state investors ever since its $37 billion initial public offering, which would have been the world’s largest, was blocked just days before its debut in November 2020.