Alibaba Invests in $200 Million in South Korea’s Messaging Giant Kakao Pay
Alibaba's payment affiliate Ant Financial will invest USD 200 million in a unit of South Korean messaging giant Kakao, the companies said today, the Chinese firm's latest step to expand its global reach.
The investment in Kakao Pay comes less than a month after Ant bought US-based payments operator MoneyGram for around USD 880 million and struck a partnership deal with Thailand's Ascend Money in November.
Ant is behind Alipay, which accounts for 80 [ercent of electronic payments in China where it is used for e-commerce at Alibaba online venues and a large number of mobile applications. Ant is also involved in investment services and online banking.
"South Korea is an important market for Ant Financial in its global expansion," said Douglas Feagin, president of Ant Financial Intern...