Alipay Could Acquire Stakes in German Banking Software Wirecard
Wirecard AG is negotiating with representatives of Alipay, a unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, about it taking a stake of up to 25 percent in the German banking software company, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
Without citing its sources, the Bild am Sonntag weekly said Wirecard was in confidential talks with Alipay about it taking a stake of up to 25 percent, and possibly more later.
A Wirecard spokeswoman declined to comment on the specifics of the report but confirmed that the company was in strategic talks with various partners, without elaborating.
A source familiar with the matter said Ant Financial, which operates the Alipay platform, was not talking to Wirecard about an investment.
In December, the two companies agreed to a deal to provide mobile phone payment servi...