Ant, Alibaba plan for less intertwined future after China crackdown

The affiliates have started to restrict access to each other's services

Ant Group and Alibaba are untangling their operations from each other and independently seeking new business as the Jack Ma-founded companies navigate China's devastating regulatory crackdown, four sources familiar with the matter said, Qazet.az reports.

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding (9988.HK) created what would become payments and financial services provider Ant and spun it off in 2011, although it still retains a 33% stake and the two companies have some overlap in leadership.

However, the duo have begun to unwind some of their collaborative arrangements as they try to recover from a sweeping technology sector clampdown that has sliced hundreds of billions of dollars off their value, shrunk revenue, and led to a record $2.8 billion fine for Alibaba.

In moves that would have been inconceivable two years ago, the affiliates have started to restrict access to each other's services, compete for clients and even strike alliances with rivals, said the four sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak to the media.