HANGZHOU, China—Ant Financial, the Chinese e-commerce giant partly owned by Alibaba, is rumored to be looking to acquire British currency exchange startup
WorldFirst for around $700 million, according to a new report.
According to Sky News, talks have been ongoing for several months, in spite of the fact that both Ant Financial and WorldFirst haven’t provided comment on the matter.
The deal, if it is to take place, could happen in the next few weeks, and is seen as part of China’s efforts to break into the global payments industry, noted Banking Tech.
WorldFirst reports that, since its launch nearly 15 years ago, it has transferred over £60 billion on behalf of 160,000 clients.