AN Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. affiliate faces a tussle to complete a deal struck in 2013 giving it control of Tianhong Asset Management Co., the manager of US$93 billion raised by online fund Yu’E Bao.

    Billionaire Jack Ma’s Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co. and Tianhong shareholders failed to agree on the treatment of Tianhong’s retained profits, one of the shareholders, Inner Mongolia Junzheng Energy & Chemical Industry Co., said yesterday.

    The Alibaba affiliate is seeking arbitration after Junzheng failed to fulfil obligations related to the deal, according to a statement on the official microblog of Internet payment company Alipay, a unit of Ant Financial.

    Tianhong is managing 579 billion yuan (US$93 billion) from money-market fund Yu’E Bao, according to its website. Ant Financial struck a deal in 2013 to get a 51 percent stake for 1.18 billion yuan, and says it’s now seeking an arbitration ruling to enforce that level of ownership.

    “This is a dispute between shareholders, it will not affect Yu’E Bao or its users,” Alipay said.

    Online shoppers who use Alipay can put spare cash into Yu’E Bao, which invests in funds. There is no minimum for how much shoppers have to put into Yu’E Bao and they can withdraw the money at any time. (SD-Agencies)