Two people with knowledge of the land purchase deal told the Post that new office space will be added to the existing headquarters amid an increasing number of employees in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s eastern Zhejiang province which is also home to Alibaba’s headquarters. The local government said earlier that total investment on the land parcel would amount to 5 billion yuan.
Ant did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment on Friday.
Ant paid 2.7 billion yuan, or 5,194 yuan per square metre, in October 2020 for the parcel where its headquarters now stands, which offers 519,000 square metres of gross floor area. The company shelled out another 1.3 billion yuan in August 2021 for a site that can yield a total gross floor area of 325,795 square metres, as a way of expanding the headquarters.
“Construction of new offices is a clear sign that Ant is back on its growth track,” said Yin Ran, a start-up and property investor in Shanghai. “The price of the land piece seems reasonable, as the Hangzhou government offers its support to the fintech behemoth.”
Ant Group’s Alipay+ expands support for Asian e-wallet and payment apps in China
Ant Group’s Alipay+ expands support for Asian e-wallet and payment apps in China
The penalty that the People’s Bank of China handed to Ant in July was widely seen as the end of a crackdown that lasted more than two years.
Chinese fintech giant Ant Group launches own AI large language model
Chinese fintech giant Ant Group launches own AI large language model
The financial penalty on Ant amid Beijing’s pledge to “normalise” management of Ant and other fintech firms also triggered speculation that the obstacles for Ant’s initial public offering had been lifted.
However, even if Ant is back on track to float shares in Hong Kong or Shanghai, its valuation would be significantly lower than in October 2020, when the spin-off was aiming for a US$37 billion listing, giving it an estimated valuation of US$300 billion.