Local payment service operator Macau Pass, S.A. will see its ownership transferred to a company owned by the Alibaba Group and the Ant Group in China.
The acquisition of the local company was approved by the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM), pursuant to the city’s Financial System Act.
Macau Pass operates smartcard payment and mobile payment platforms in Macau. Some companies in Hong Kong also accept the company’s mobile payment platform, MPay, for transaction settlements.
The new owner, AGTech Holdings Limited, has a 55% stake held by the two aforementioned Chinese fintech giants, and is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Once the acquisition is settled, AGTech will wholly own the local payment service company.
When news about the acquisition was first revealed last September, the local company commented that it had been anticipating the matter, adding that the buy-out will help the company expand its operations to Hengqin, which is now co-administered by the governments of Guangdong and Macau.
The public did not express complete support following the initial news, with some social media users expressing concerns that personal information provided to Macau Pass, including but not limited to consumption habits, will be transferred to mainland China. AL
