The Ant Group payments service arm of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd has agreed to buy 5 per cent of Dotz, the operator of a customer loyalty programme in Brazil, Reuters reports.

The news agency quotes Dotz as telling the stock market on Wednesday that it has a deal with Ant Group to cooperate in taking opportunities to do business in the digital financial services market in Brazil.

The report says Ant Group will appoint an executive to serve on the Dotz board, and appoint one of the joint chiefs of the Dotz strategy committee.

Ant Group has the option to buy another 10 per cent of Dotz within two years of Dotz completing its initial public offering of stock, the report says.

The value of the Dotz IPO is roughly 815 million reals (about US$146.35 million), and trading in its shares is due to begin at the São Paulo stock exchange on May 13, Reuters says.