The financial affiliate of Alibaba Group, Ant Financial has announced the agreement on purchase of WorldFirst, a British payments company.

Kommersant reports that WorldFirst CEO Jonathan Quin believes that the deal will create opportunities for the business to grow and “with time the company will be able to provide services and products of even higher quality and derive maximal benefits as part of a larger enterprise”.

According to Financial Times, WorldFirst will cost the Chinese company just USD 700 million, while Ant Financial itself is worth USD 150 billion.

“This is the Chinese giant’s biggest deal in Europe, and it means no less to it than it does to WorldFirst. This deal will finally give Ant Financial full access to Western markets,” the report reads.

Alibaba Group tired to enter Western markets two years ago and negotiated with MoneyGram, but the U.S. authorities were against the deal as they believed it might threaten America’s national security.

In the end the deal was blocked and Ant Financial shifted focus to the search for a European partner.


The rumors of the talks with WorldFirst first appeared in December 2018. Last month the British company closed its office in the U.S. so that they would not need permission from the American authorities to complete the deal with Ant Financial.

WorldFirst was founded in 2004. The company enables users to make cross-border payments in European countries, U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Simultaneously, WorldFirst provides currency exchange services and hedging of currency risks for companies and individuals.

In 2018, Ant Financial raised USD 14 billion: the investment in the Chinese company held a 35% share in the total funding for fintech companies. Overall, fintech companies raised a record USD 39.57 billion in venture capital last year, which exceeded the index of 2017 by 120%.

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