Ant Financial in $10 billion raising talks led by Temasek

Alibaba's Ant Financial Services Group is in talks with investors to raise US$8 billion to US$10 billion in fundraising targets that increase valuations to around US$150 billion. Singapore's Temasek Holdings is likely to be a major investor in the latest round of equity increases by the company.

One source said Ant would end up raising between US$8 billion and US$10 billion as a result of strong investor demand. Alibaba's e-commerce giant shares rose 4.3 percent in New York on Tuesday. Ant and Temasek have so far refused to comment on the secret deal.

The US$150 billion valuation will make Ant one of the largest publicly traded companies that Facebook has at US$104 billion, which in 2014 was worth US$168 billion. Recent fundraising by Ant in April 2016 as one of Alibaba's most valuable assets because it has a unique position in Chinese e-commerce of about US$60 billion.

Alibaba in February said it took a 33 percent stake in Ant as an important step ahead of an IPO. Temasek has expanded its investment into the technology business in recent years and the latest deals include to SenseTime Group and Go-Jek.

Alibaba founded Alipay in 2004 that mimicked PayPal's business to help Chinese shoppers shop online and in 2011 controversially changed its name to Ant Financial. After becoming the dominant payment company in China, Ant focuses on international markets by buying shares in Paytm and Ascend Money.