No, Alibaba is not in talks with Telenor Bank

A while ago, a Pakistani media outlet released a news that Alibaba’s subsidiary Ant Financial has “locked a deal” with Telenor Bank and is “looking at 40% shares” in it. However, sources close to Telenor Bank have denied the news.

Our sources claim that they have no information regarding any such deal between Alibaba and Telenor Bank. TechJuice reached out to Telenor Bank as well for an official statement who declined to comment on it.

Alibaba has been quietly trying to tap into the Pakistani market for quite a while now. Earlier this month we reported on official meetings between Alibaba representatives and TCS and Yayvo. While no information has been released publicly it is expected that this could be a start of a long-term partnership. During the meeting, Alibaba officials visited the warehouse facilities of TCS to see the infrastructure and processes. The team also visited the Yayvo head office in Karachi and discussed the current and upcoming e-commerce trends in the country.

The rumor mill was also abuzz with Alibaba’s plans to buy Daraz – Pakistan’s biggest e-commerce platform. If the Alibaba does end up acquiring all, or a chunk of Telenor Bank, it would ease its transition into the Pakistani e-commerce scene.

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