Ant Financial to create JV with CK Hutchison

As Ant Financial pushes its global drive to tap into Hong Kong's cashless payment market, the tech giant is forming a joint venture with tycoon Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Holdings (CKH) to sign up more local users.

The two companies are poised to set up a 50-50 joint venture to offer a consumer-oriented digital wallet under the AlipayHK brand. The deal is expected to be completed later this year, subject to obtaining the nod from regulators.

Neither company has disclosed the amount of their contribution to the joint venture. But market experts speculate that the parties are not disclosing the figures due to the negligible amount compared with the companies' massive portfolios.