Alibaba’s Ant Financial has bought London-based payments company WorldFirst in a deal said to be valued around $700 million. The world’s most valuable unicorn (start-up) company, with a valuation of US$150 billion, was denied a chance to buy MoneyGram fro $1.2 billion by the US government.
WorldFirst CEO Jonathan Quin said in a letter sent out to clients that was seen by Reuters that the company “will continue to operate as a UK-headquartered and regulated business with global operations” while becoming a wholly-owned division of Ant Financial.”
He added that “The products and services of Alipay and WorldFirst are highly complementary. All your current customer and account information will also remain unchanged.”
WorldFirst has about 600 staff globally and has helped more than 160,000 individuals and small businesses transfer 70 billion pounds ($90 billion) since its founding in 2004.
Ant Financial says that the acquisition marks the Chinese company’s first big move into the U.K., although its Alipay service is accepted by some merchants there already. That should allow Ant to better serve smaller businesses worldwide, including in the U.S.
