Jack Ma's firm enters financial IT market

A technology firm owned by Ma Yun, the founder of China's leading e-commerce company Alibaba, has taken over a division of Hundsun Group, a Chinese financial software provider.

Shanghai-listed Hundsun Group announced on Thursday that Zhejiang Finance Credit Network Technology Co. Ltd., in which Ma holds a 99-percent stake, will pay 3.3 billion yuan (536.6 million U.S. dollars) for Hangzhou Hundsun Technologies Group Co. Ltd.

The transaction means Ma will hold a controlling share of 20.62 percent in Hundsun Group.

Hundsun suspended its stock trading on March 18 for restructuring. Trading is due to resume on April 8.

Zhejiang Finance Credit Network Technology Co. Ltd. has no direct connection with Alibaba, in which Ma holds 7.3 percent of shares. Both companies are headquartered in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

Alibaba owns China's leading online payment service -- Alipay, which handles mobile and Internet payments. It also owns money market fund Yu'ebao.

Some financial firms fear the acquisition may give Alibaba access to sensitive information handled by Hundsun's systems. The software provider has 70 percent of the country's market for securities and fund management software used by financial, trust and insurance companies.

The close relation between Alibaba and Hundsun could give Alibaba an unfair advantage in the money market.

In its announcement Hundsun dismissed such worries, saying it only provides financial information technology to users, and is not involved in data management and after-sales software operations.