Alibaba Finance Arm Plans 2016 Initial Public Offering

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s finance affiliate, which runs China’s biggest e-commerce payments business, is planning an initial public offering next year, according to people familiar with the matter.

Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co. has an estimated value of about $50 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Ant Financial is weighing a private placement before going public, and details of the planned fundraising aren’t finalized, the people said.