ANT Financial Services Group, operator of China’s biggest online payment platform, said Friday it raised around US$14 billion in what market watchers called the biggest-ever single fundraising globally by a private firm.

The cash will boost Ant Financial’s firepower ahead of a widely expected initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong and on the mainland as early as next year — though the company has neither publicly set a timetable nor chosen a likely stock exchange.

The exercise amounted to the largest confirmed single fundraising round in history, according to data provider Crunchbase.

Ant Financial, spun off from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. before the e-commerce firm’s 2014 listing, has played a major role in shaping China’s financial technology landscape. It oversees the largest mobile payment app in what is increasingly becoming a cashless society.

In a statement, Ant Financial said the funding included both U.S. dollar and Chinese yuan tranches. The dollar share made up over US$10 billion, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said in a statement that it will invest about US$600 million in Ant Financial’s unit, Ant International Co.

Ant Financial listed Singaporean sovereign wealth fund (SWF) GIC Pte Ltd. and state investor Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd., as well as U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC as participants in the dollar tranche.

Other global investors included Malaysian SWF Khazanah Nasional Bhd and U.S. private equity firms Silver Lake and General Atlantic, it said.

Ant did not release details of its valuation following the funding round. Reuters reported earlier that Ant Financial was likely to be valued at around US$150 billion, making it one of the world’s most valuable financial firms.

Participants in the yuan tranche were mainly existing shareholders, Ant Financial said. Among them was private equity firm Boyu Capital, which invested in both the yuan and dollar tranches, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Ant Financial, in its statement, said it would use the funds to speed up globalization plans for its Alipay payment platform and to invest in developing financial technology. (SD-Agencies)