Jack Ma's Ant Eyes Stake Sell In Hong Kong Banking Unit

Alibaba Group Holding Limited's BABA fintech affiliate Ant Group Co Ltd weighed selling a stake in its virtual banking unit in Hong Kong to win regulatory confidence for its impending initial public offering.
Ant Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd has been discussing with potential investors to bolster operations, Bloomberg cites familiar sources.
Ant Bank is one of eight virtual lenders approved by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority recently, competing with rivals including Za Bank Ltd and WeLab Bank Ltd.
China's parent Ant Group has been restructuring operations to win the regulators after the country abruptly dumped its IPO in 2020.
Founder Jack Ma said in January that he would cede control of Ant Group, holding about 6.2% voting rights after the change.
Ma's criticism of the Chinese regulators in 2020 followed the last-moment quashing of the IPO followed by a slew of regulatory action against the country's biggest tech giants, including a record $2.8 billion penalty against Alibaba.
Ma spent much of 2022 in central Tokyo. Lately, Beijing has voiced the resolution of the regulatory issues with the internet sector to bolster investor and entrepreneurial confidence.
Ma returned to mainland China in March to support plans by Alibaba's chief executive Daniel Zhang to restructure the group into six separate units to reverse a sluggish share price performance.
Price Action: BABA shares traded higher by 0.28% at $82.72 premarket on the last check Friday.