Ant Group Throws 2.8 Billion Hong Kong Dollars to Acquire Hong Kong Brokerage, Will Obtain First Securities License

What is the strategic significance of the first securities license for Ant Group’s business?

According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website, on April 25, Hong Kong-listed Yau Tai Securities Financial Group Limited announced that Shanghai Cloud Progress, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ant Group, made a takeover offer to Yau Tai Securities at HKD 3.28 per share, aiming to acquire approximately 50.55% of the company’s issued shares.

Yau Tai Securities Announcement Screenshot

The announcement states that on April 25, 2025, the offeror, WEALTHINESS AND PROSPERITY HOLDING LIMITED, intends to acquire about 858 million shares of the company, representing approximately 50.55% of the issued shares as of the date of the share purchase agreement, for a total cash consideration of about HKD 2.814 billion, at HKD 3.28 per share. The buyer and seller signed the agreement on the same day, and a 10% deposit has been paid.

Yau Tai Securities Financial shares were briefly suspended from trading at 11:10 AM on April 23, 2025. Before the suspension, its stock price increased by 9.32% that day. The proposed purchase price of HKD 3.28 per share represents a premium of about 17.6% over the closing price of HKD 2.79 before the suspension, and premiums of 18.8% and 23.8% over the average closing prices of the last 30 and 60 trading days, respectively.

After the announcement, on the morning of April 28, Yau Tai Securities Financial opened up 60.66% at HKD 4.9, setting a new record high.

Yau Tai Securities Financial Stock Price Chart Screenshot from HKEX website

The announcement explains that the offeror is directly wholly owned by Innovatech Empowerment Company Limited, which is indirectly wholly owned by Shanghai Cloud Progress. The sole director of the offeror is Huang Hai, and the sole director of Shanghai Cloud Progress is Huang Hao. Shanghai Cloud Progress is wholly owned by Ant Group and holds various investments, including its wholly owned subsidiary Ant Fortune.

Ant Fortune is a financial technology service company established in China, positioned as a one-stop wealth management platform under the offeror group. Its scope includes financial information services, research and development of financial products, design, consulting services, and more. Over 150 asset management institutions provide diversified inclusive financial services to hundreds of millions of users on the Ant Fortune platform.

The seller, Xin Changming Holdings Limited, is a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, wholly owned by Ye Maolin, the current chairman of Yau Tai Securities. According to HKEX data, as of October 4, 2024, Ye Maolin held exactly 858 million shares of Yau Tai Securities, accounting for 50.54%. Of these, 725 million shares are held through Xin Changming Holdings.

HKEX Website Screenshot

This also means that after the transaction, Yau Tai Securities may be officially “changed hands,” with Ye Maolin’s shares most likely fully transferred to Ant Group. The company indirectly controlled by Ant will become the absolute major shareholder of Yau Tai Securities, and founder Ye Maolin will fully exit as a shareholder.

Yau Tai Securities stated in the announcement: “The offeror is confident in the long-term development of China’s and Hong Kong’s economies and firmly believes that combining technology with wealth management can bring significant market opportunities. With the product and technological innovation capabilities of the offeror group, the company is expected to expand its services to a broader age range of clients and enhance the experience of existing clients, thereby driving further business growth.”

According to Yau Tai Securities’ official website, the company was founded by Ye Maolin in 1995 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2010. Its core businesses include securities brokerage, margin financing, commodities and futures brokerage, and spot financial trading. Currently, the company has nearly 580,000 clients and assets close to HKD 60.5 billion.

As a leading local brokerage in Hong Kong, Yau Tai Securities holds licenses No. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (commonly known as the “full license”), covering securities trading, futures contract consulting, asset management, and other fields.

Once the acquisition is completed, this Hong Kong brokerage license will become Ant Group’s first securities license. For Ant Group, compared to applying for a Hong Kong securities license through conventional channels, this will shorten the compliance approval cycle by 2-3 years, enabling a faster diversification of financial services.

This article is an exclusive report by Observer Network. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.