Alibaba financial affiliate valued at $60 billion


China's top internet finance company, e-commerce giant Alibaba's affiliate Ant Financial, could start the process of going public this year, reports said yesterday, with the firm's latest fundraising valuing it at $60 billion.Ant Financial Services Group, which owns and operates the Paypal-like service Alipay, has met the Chinese listing requirement of three years profitability, Bloomberg News cited unidentified sources as saying. It is planning to list on the Shanghai stock exchange, they said, and could become China's biggest initial public offering (IPO) since 2010.Partly owned by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Ant Financial also runs China's largest money market fund and provides financial services focussed on serving small companies. It is currently seeking private funding of $3.5 billion, Bloomberg reported, valuing it at around $60 billion.