Ant Group secures China nod for Hong Kong brokerage acquisition

[HONG KONG] Ant Group won China’s regulatory approval to complete its purchase of Hong Kong-listed brokerage Bright Smart Securities & Commodities Group, clearing the way for a deal agreed nearly a year ago.

Ant completed reporting procedures with the relevant Chinese authorities required for high-value, non-sensitive investment projects, according to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing on Monday (Mar 16), confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The deal is now expected to close on Mar 30, the filing said.

Bright Smart chairman Yip Mow Lum conditionally agreed in April to sell his 50.55 per cent stake, about 858 million shares, to Wealthiness and Prosperity Holding, which is ultimately controlled by Ant, Jack Ma’s Chinese fintech giant. The agreed price was HK$3.28 per share, or HK$2.8 billion (S$457 million).

Bright Smart’s shares will resume trading on Tuesday. The shares have more than tripled to HK$9.27 since the deal announcement last April, giving the company a market value of US$2 billion.

Yip, known as the Money Hunter, founded Bright Smart in 1995 and build it into a platform for online transactions with low brokerage commissions. The company was listed in Hong Kong in 2010.

The Ant unit that controls Wealthiness and Prosperity holds various investments in the digital brokerage sector, including wealth management platform Ant Wealth Shanghai Yunjin Information Technology. BLOOMBERG