China's Ant Financial buys helloPay

Beijing

ANT Financial, the payment affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has acquired Singapore-based payment service helloPay Group, as part of the Chinese firm's drive to boost its Alipay brand and presence in South-east Asia.

helloPay is the payment subsidiary of e-commerce firm Lazada Group, which is majority-owned by Alibaba after a US$1 billion deal in 2016, and will be re-branded as Alipay in relevant markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, Ant said in a statement on Wednesday.