Ant International raises $1.2 billion in equity fundraising

Ant International plans to accelerate its expansion in the merchant payment business, account management and other financial services for enterprises internationally

Ant International, an overseas affiliate of the Jack Ma-founded fintech firm Ant Group, has raised $1.2 billion in its latest equity fundraising as it seeks to expand.

Affiliates Ant Group and Alibaba Group participated in the private funding round, the company said on Tuesday, without disclosing the size of their commitment.

Ant International plans to accelerate its expansion in the merchant payment business, account management and other financial services for enterprises internationally.

The Singapore-based firm is a digital payments and fintech firm that was spun out of Ant ​Group as an ​independently operated ⁠company in 2024.

Chinese regulators suspended the group’s planned listing in 2020 just before its debut, leading to Ma giving up control of Ant Group.

Ant International, which mainly operates in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, is connected to banks, card organizations, mobile payment and tech firms, through which it covers 150 million merchants and 2 billion user accounts.

Among its four main business drivers, Antom helps merchants integrate more than 300 payment methods, accepting payments in more than 100 currencies. WorldFirst enables cross-border trade payment. Bettr has an AI-powered digital lending service and helps clients with treasury and foreign exchange management. And Alipay+ is a cross-border network that can be used by different wallets.

Ant Group has been investing in new technologies to tap new revenue streams, including large language models, humanoid robots and a healthcare app with 140 million users.

In March, Ant won support from Chinese regulators to acquire Hong Kong-based Bright Smart Securities & Commodities Group Ltd, as the firm looks to expand its online brokerage services outside of mainland China.