Ant Group’s international division reportedly generated nearly US$3 billion in revenue for 2024 according to sources familiar with the matter, setting the stage for a potential spinoff after the unit established its own board last year.

Based in Singapore, Ant International has also recorded two consecutive years of adjusted profit. The sources, who requested anonymity because the information is not public, did not specify how the company’s adjusted EBITDA was calculated.

Ant Group’s overall profits grew by 61% in 2024, reaching 38.3 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion), based on Bloomberg’s analysis of filings from Alibaba Group, one of its affiliates. However, the group’s total revenue for the year has not been disclosed.

Ant Group, which owns the Alipay digital payments platform, has not commented on these reports.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Ant’s international pivot follows China’s tech industry restructuring pattern

Ant International’s strong performance, nearly $3 billion in revenue with consecutive years of adjusted profit, reflects a broader trend of Chinese tech giants creating separate international divisions in response to domestic regulatory pressures.

Following its halted $300+ billion IPO in 2020, Ant Group has undergone significant restructuring, including separating its consumer loan services from Alipay and accepting Hangzhou city as a 10% stakeholder in its consumer finance unit 1.

The March spin-off of Ant International positions the company to pursue global growth with greater independence from the regulatory constraints faced by its mainland parent company, similar to moves by other Chinese tech firms seeking to insulate international operations.

This spin-off strategy appears to be paying dividends, as Ant International’s Alipay+ platform now connects over 90 million merchants across 66 markets to 1.6 billion user accounts, with cross-border transactions surging threefold in 2024 alone 2.

While the domestic business remains under close regulatory scrutiny, the spin-off gives Ant a clearer path to capitalize on global opportunities without the same constraints that led to its IPO cancellation.

2️⃣ Cross-border payment providers building scale through multiple services

Ant International’s success demonstrates how cross-border payment providers are creating comprehensive ecosystems beyond simple money transfers to capture greater market share.

Their portfolio approach is evident in Alipay+’s merchant-consumer network, WorldFirst’s B2B services (which achieved a $100 billion annual payment volume), and Antom’s merchant-facing payment solutions which nearly doubled year-over-year 2.

This multi-service strategy positions Ant International to compete effectively in a rapidly expanding global cross-border payment market projected to exceed $56 trillion by 2030 3.