China’s Ant Financial, a fin-tech affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has quietly acquired a sizable stake in a Vietnamese e-wallet eMonkey, people familiar with the matter said.
The move, negotiated over the summer, is not being announced due to concerns that anti-China sentiment in Vietnam could result in possible pushback, three people with knowledge of the situation said.
The strategic investment, Ant’s eight international payments deal, will allow the firm to gain entry to Vietnam’s booming market of nearly 100 million people, a quarter of who are under 25, and where e-commerce growth is among the highest in the region.
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