Alibaba to buy 51% stake in Tianhong Asset Management

Oct 10 (China Knowledge) - The online payment unit of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group will take a 51% shareholding in Tianhong Asset Management Co as part of the group's effort to push into online financial services.

Inner Mongolia Junzheng Energy & Chemical Industry Co<601216 > announced yesterday that it, together with other shareholder of Tianhong, has signed an agreement with Zhejiang Alibaba E-Commerce Co, the parent company of online payment firm Alipay.

Pursuant to the agreement, Zhejiang Alibaba E-Commerce will invest RMB 1.18 billion to get the 51% stake in Tianhong.

The transaction is subjected to approval from Tianhong's shareholders and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

In Jun this year, Alipay and Tianhong launched a new fund and payment platform, called Yu E Bao, which could allow Alipay customers to convert spare cash into a money market fund holding. In the first 18 days after its launch, the fund raised RMB 6.6 billion.