Jack Ma to relinquish control of Ant Group in key shareholding structure revamp

Jack Ma, Chinese billionaire, will cease to be in control of Ant Group as the fintech company seeks to revamp its shareholding structure.

The firm disclosed this on its website on Saturday.

Ant Group is a fintech affiliate of Alibaba, both of which were founded by Ma.

According to the statement, the company intends to adjust “the upper-tier shareholding structure of Ant Group (the “Adjustment”), to further optimise corporate governance and to align the voting interests of shareholders with their economic interests”.

Ma only owns a 10 percent stake in Ant, but the company said after the adjustment, his voting rights will fall to 6.2 percent.

Prior to the restructuring, Ma’s investment vehicle, Hangzhou Yunbo which has control over two other entities, owned a combined 50.5 percent stake in Ant, according to its IPO prospectus filed with stock exchanges in 2020.

In  November 2020, Ant’s valuation took a massive hit, which by some estimates, fell over 70 percent from $235 billion to $70 billion, after its IPO was ruined by China‘s financial regulators.

The shareholders in the fintech company include: Ma, Eric Xiandong Jing, Simon Hu and Fang Jiang, Hangzhou Yunbo Investment Consultancy Limited, Hangzhou Junhan Equity Investment Partnership, among others.

Ant Group, however, said the parties have entered an agreement to terminate their acting-in-concert arrangement for the voting of shares of Yunbo Investment.

“On 7 January 2023, the ‘termination agreement for concert party agreement’, ‘equity transfer agreement with respect to Hangzhou Yunbo Investment Consultancy Co., Ltd.’, ‘partnership admission and withdrawal agreement with respect to Hangzhou Junhan Equity Investment Partnership (limited partnership)’ and ‘letter of undertaking’ were entered into by the parties thereto,” the statement reads.

“The adjustment is being implemented to further enhance the stability of our corporate structure and sustainability of our long-term development.

“The adjustment will not result in any change to the economic interests of any shareholders of Ant Group and their beneficiaries.

“Ten individuals – including the founder, management and staff – will exercise their voting rights independently.”

Ant Group further said the major goal for the adjustment is to ensure transparency.

It added that its activities of services will not in any way be affected.

“As a result of the adjustment, the shareholding structure of Ant Group will be more transparent and diversified, which will facilitate the steady development of the company,” the firm added.

“The adjustment will not affect the day-to-day operations of Ant Group. We will continue to serve the real economy by leveraging digital technology, implementing our sustainable development strategy, optimising our corporate governance, investing in cutting-edge technologies, and creating greater value for society.”