Ant Financial eyes more deals in global expansion

Ant Financial is seeking to raise less than $3 billion by issuing debt to fund its acquisitions

Ant Financial, China’s largest provider of internet financial services, will continue investing in mobile-payment providers around the world to boost offshore revenue and buttress itself from rising competition and tighter regulation at home.

Controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, the Hangzhou-based firm will announce more “partnerships” this year with a focus on Asia and is also “actively assessing” other markets, Douglas Feagin, the head of its international operations, said in a phone interview on Thursday.  

Since 2004, Ant Financial’s Alipay platform has built itself into an online giant that controls more than half of China’s $5.5 trillion mobile-payments market. Still, it has