5 Things to Know About China's Ant Financial

China’s most valuable financial technology company, Ant Financial Services Group, just completed a fresh $4.5 billion funding round –giving it a valuation of roughly $60 billion. The new round being raised by the financial services affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is the world’s largest private fundraising for any Internet company. Here’s what you need to know about Ant Financial:

#1: What is Ant Financial?

Ant Financial is a powerhouse in China’s online payments market through its Alipay service, which draws comparisons to PayPal. It also operates a money-market fund called Yu’e Bao and an online bank called MYbank. It draws its name–Ant–from its roots catering to the small merchants that sell goods through Alibaba. Today, Ant Financial has more than 450 million annual active users. Credit Suisse estimates that 58% of China’s online payment transactions go through Alipay.

#2: Ties to Alibaba

Ant Financial was formerly Alibaba’s online payment business known as Alipay. It provides the technology, so customers on Alibaba’s e-commerce sites including Taobao can make purchases. Alipay is increasingly being used for offline services as well, ranging from paying for taxi rides to buying groceries. Ant Financial was spun off from Alibaba before the e-commerce giant’s record $25 billion New York IPO in 2014. Both Ant Financial and Alibaba are controlled by Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma. Ant Financial has also teamed up with Alibaba on a number of investments such as Chinese food-delivery app Ele.me.

#3: State-backed Shareholders

Alibaba has brought in a roster of state financial institutions as investors in Ant Financial. The $740 billion sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp. and the country’s national social security fund are now among its biggest shareholders after Ant Financial began introducing outside investors. Ant Financial’s latest round of fundraising gives it a roughly $60 billion valuation after it was previously valued at about $45 billion last year. Its prospects as a dominant player in China’s growing fintech industry have bucked the trend of more difficult fundraising environment for closely held technology companies from Silicon Valley to Beijing.

#4: Investment Plans

Ant Financial has used its war chest to make a number of acquisitions from China to India that could shape its future business strategy. Ant Financial plans to use the funds raised from the latest round for financial services expansion in China’s rural areas, investments in IT and overseas acquisitions. It has over the past year bought a stake in Postal Savings Bank of China before its planned $10 billion IPO in Hong Kong, became a cornerstone investor in China Zheshang Bank’s Hong Kong IPO in March, and invested in India’s largest mobile wallet provider Paytm. It also has been in talks to buy a stake in Caixin Media .

#5: Future IPO

Ant Financial is gearing up for a future IPO, which will be one of the most anticipated deals on the horizon. The company hasn’t given a timetable for the IPO deal, but an Ant Financial executive said the company plans to list shares on both a domestic Chinese stock exchange and overseas. Bankers have said they expect Ant Financial’s domestic IPO to come first, potentially as early as next year. Alibaba could receive a big payout when that IPO happens under certain conditions.