(Yicai) Aug. 15 -- Chinese fintech giant Ant Group plans to acquire leading healthcare service provider HaoDF and integrate it into Alipay’s health business division, Yicai learned from sources.

Ant did not respond to Yicai’s inquiries, while HaoDF declined to comment on the takeover news. The pair denied acquisition rumors in April.

At the end of June, Ant and HaoDF reached a business cooperation agreement. Now, Alipay users can access HaoDF’s service platform from the healthcare section on its app.

Founded in 2006, HaoDF was once worth almost CNY10 billion (USD1.4 billion), but according to insiders, the company’s valuation plunged to less than CNY1 billion (USD139.7 million) in the past year.

HaoDF users can contact 280,000 doctors employed at Chinese government-funded hospitals for online services and to book offline visits. As of the end of July last year, HaoDF had information on 910,000 doctors from over 10,000 accredited hospitals nationwide. But the company has significantly downsized its team since then.

It is quite hard for HaoDF to keep going on its own, according to industry experts. Being acquired by a leading internet firm is the best choice for shareholders, the funding team, staff, doctors, and patients, they believe.

The actual situation at HaoDF is worse than expected in terms of active users, operational ability, and network infrastructure, an investor who claimed to have participated in the acquisition negotiation told Yicai. “Honestly, HaoDF does not have the human resources and money to support its platform and stay afloat.”

HaoDF has turned profitable after laying off more than half of its staff, an insider familiar with the company said, adding that this can be a positive negotiation point for the acquisition.

Editors: Xu Wei, Futura Costaglione