ANT GROUP's tender offer to acquire BRIGHT SMART has been approved, and BRIGHT SMART's stock price surged by 80%.
According to Wall Street Journal, BRIGHT SMART announced on the evening of March 16 that the tender offer initiated by ANT GROUP has been approved by the relevant authorities and is expected to be completed by March 30. After the transaction is completed, ANT GROUP will officially hold a controlling stake in BRIGHT SMART.
The company's stock was temporarily suspended on March 16 and resumed trading on March 17. Before resuming trading, BRIGHT SMART's stock price was HKD 9.27, with a market capitalization of approximately HKD 15.734 billion. After resuming trading, the stock price surged by over 80%.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/d00c7e6a-ca35-4281-8911-d399175546d0.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/d00c7e6a-ca35-4281-8911-d399175546d0.png"/> (BRIGHT SMART's stock price soared over 80% at the opening)
After the completion of this acquisition, ANT GROUP will officially acquire approximately 50.55% of BRIGHT SMART's controlling stake and will obtain a complete licensing system for Hong Kong securities brokerage business for the first time, which is seen as an important step in accelerating its international layout and completing its financial map.
<h2>&#34;Commission King,&#34; BRIGHT SMART</h2>
BRIGHT SMART is a well-established local brokerage firm in Hong Kong, founded in 1995 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2010, making it one of the veteran retail brokers in Hong Kong.
The company has established itself in the market with a low commission strategy. After Hong Kong abolished the &#34;minimum commission system&#34; in 2003, BRIGHT SMART significantly lowered its commission rates, with online securities trading commissions as low as 0.01%, earning it the nickname &#34;Commission King.&#34;
With its low commission advantage, BRIGHT SMART has accumulated a large retail investor client base. As of the end of September 2025, its total number of clients exceeded 600,000, and client assets (including cash, stocks, and margin) increased by 34.4% year-on-year to approximately HKD 86.3 billion.
In terms of performance, BRIGHT SMART has shown steady results. The interim report for the 2025/2026 fiscal year shows that for the six months ending September 30, 2025, the group's revenue recorded HKD 496.9 million, an increase of 10.7% year-on-year; the net profit attributable to shareholders after tax was HKD 326.9 million, an increase of 4.8% year-on-year; and earnings per share were HKD 0.1926, an increase of 4.79% year-on-year.
The company holds regulatory licenses for regulated activities in categories 1/2/3/4/5/7/9 issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, providing global stock trading services covering Hong Kong stocks, US stocks, UK stocks, Japanese stocks, and Taiwanese stocks, with core businesses including securities brokerage, commodities and futures brokerage, and spot gold trading.
This acquisition took nearly a year. In April 2024, ANT GROUP's wholly-owned subsidiary Shanghai Yunjin Information Technology Co., Ltd. announced the acquisition of 50.55% of BRIGHT SMART shares held by founder Ye Maolin at a price of HKD 3.28 per share, with a total consideration of approximately HKD 2.814 billion.
In October of the same year, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission approved ANT GROUP to become a shareholder of several regulated subsidiaries under BRIGHT SMART
<h2>Officially entering the brokerage license market, completing the financial service landscape</h2>
From a strategic perspective, this acquisition is of significant importance to ANT GROUP.
For a long time, ANT GROUP has primarily relied on payment and platforms like &#34;Ant Wealth&#34; to provide wealth management services, without directly holding a brokerage license. By acquiring BRIGHT SMART, ANT will obtain the first/second/third/fourth/fifth/seventh/ninth category regulated activity licenses issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for the first time.
ANT GROUP stated that it has continuously increased its strategic investment in Hong Kong over the past two years, making Hong Kong an important foothold in its globalization strategy. The formal acquisition of a Hong Kong brokerage license will help accelerate its international layout and form a more complete ecological closed loop in wealth management, securities trading, and cross-border financial services.
In terms of digital finance, ANT GROUP currently serves over 2,000 financial institutions nationwide through its technology, data, and platform capabilities. Its online bank has provided digital credit services to over 50 million small and micro business operators.
<h2>A landmark case of internet platforms returning to the financial license race</h2>
This acquisition is also interpreted by the outside world as an important signal for internet platforms to reconfigure their financial business.
After ANT GROUP's IPO was halted in 2020, it underwent a series of business rectifications and structural reorganizations. In recent years, as the regulatory environment has stabilized, ANT has begun to push forward with the expansion of its financial business, including the expansion of overseas financial services.
If the acquisition is completed as planned by the end of March, ANT will officially become a financial technology group directly holding a brokerage license.
Market views suggest that ANT can integrate BRIGHT SMART with Alipay and Ant Wealth platforms to expand Hong Kong stock and cross-border investment products, and leverage financial technology capabilities to enhance the online operational efficiency of the brokerage. Some market participants compare the potential synergies to the &#34;Hong Kong version of Eastmoney&#34; model.

512000

512880

01428

688688

ANT GROUP's acquisition of the Hong Kong veteran brokerage BRIGHT SMART has been approved, with the completion of the transaction expected on March 30, at which point it will acquire approximately 50.55% of the controlling stake. The news triggered a surge of over 80% in BRIGHT SMART's stock price after trading resumed. Established in 1995, BRIGHT SMART is known for its low commissions. This acquisition marks ANT's first acquisition of a brokerage license from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, completing its financial services landscape and is seen as a symbolic case of its accelerated internationalization and the return of its internet platform to the financial licensing arena

- Ant Group's acquisition proposal for Yaocai Securities has been approved, with the stock price surging over 80% following the news.  
- The deal, expected to close by March 30, will give Ant Group a 50.55% controlling stake, marking a significant step in its international expansion and allowing it to officially hold several regulatory licenses in Hong Kong.  
- This acquisition is viewed as a key move for Ant Group to re-enter the financial sector after previous regulatory challenges and aims to enhance its financial services ecosystem, particularly in wealth management and securities trading.

Ant Group's acquisition has been approved, and BRIGHT SMART once surged by 80%