Yunfeng Financial Group said it would be the main investor in a 1.7 billion dollars acquisition of insurer MassMutual International's Hong Kong unit – a deal that sent shares in the Jack Ma-backed finance firm soaring as much as 30 percent.

The cash and stock deal will add insurance products to the Yunfeng's existing fintech-focused financial services, in what the company called a milestone in its ambitions to become a financial conglomerate.

Yunfeng will own 60 percent of MassMutual Asia. The rest will be owned by other investors such as Ant Financial Services, an affiliate of billionaire Jack Ma's Alibaba, as well as Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Ltd and Chinese Internet and telecoms firm SINA Corp.

The deal will see MassMutual, Yunfeng and Ant enter into a strategic cooperation agreement to explore future business opportunities. Ant has also been expanding rapidly, delving into a range of businesses from wealth management to micro lending.

“The long term vision of Yunfeng FG is to leverage its fintech capabilities to develop a financial service ecosystem comprising information technology and online and offline platforms that offer a broad range of financial services and products, along with high quality expert advice, said Yunfeng chairman Yu Feng in a statement. “This transaction is a milestone step of Yunfeng FG becoming a financial conglomerate, integrating its existing fintech focused financial services with traditional insurance business.”

GIC said in a statement that the prospect of collaboration between the three firms could create "significant value" and that it saw consistent growth for MassMutual Asia in Hong Kong's life insurance industry.

Yunfeng will pay the US insurer 1 billion dollars in cash and 800 million shares valued at 6.50 Hong Kong dollars apiece. MassMutual will have a 24.8 percent stake in Yunfeng's enlarged share capital.

Shares in Yunfeng ended 5.4 percent higher, giving it a market value of 16.1 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.1 billion US dollars). Earlier it had surged as much as 30 percent.

MassMutual Asia has two main units – one manages its general insurance business, while the other focuses on the Mandatory Provident Fund business, a compulsory pension plan for the retirement of residents in Hong Kong.

MassMutual International said its business in Japan and a joint venture in China were not part of the transaction, and that Yunfeng had indicated it will move forward with MassMutual Asia's employees and management team intact.

MassMutual Asia employs some 3,000 professional consultants, according to its website.