(March 17): Ant Group Co won China’s regulatory approval to complete its purchase of Hong Kong-listed brokerage Bright Smart Securities & Commodities Group Ltd, clearing the way for a deal agreed nearly a year ago.
Ant completed reporting procedures with the relevant Chinese authorities required for high-value, non-sensitive investment projects, according to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing on Monday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The deal is now expected to close on March 30, the filing said.
Bright Smart’s shares soared as much as 82% on Tuesday morning to HK$16.88 ($2.76), giving the company a market value of about US$3.6 billion ($4.6 billion).
Bright Smart chairman Yip Mow Lum conditionally agreed in April to sell his 50.55% stake — about 858 million shares — to Wealthiness and Prosperity Holding Ltd at HK$3.28 per share, or HK$2.81 billion. Wealthiness and Prosperity is ultimately controlled by Ant, Jack Ma’s Chinese fintech giant.
Yip, known as the Money Hunter, founded Bright Smart in 1995 and build it into a platform for online transactions with low brokerage commissions. The company was listed in Hong Kong in 2010.
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The Ant unit that controls Wealthiness and Prosperity holds various investments in the digital brokerage sector, including wealth management platform Ant Wealth Shanghai Yunjin Information Technology.
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
