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 Ant Group Co has agreed on a restructuring plan with Chinese regulators under which the fintech giant will be turned into a financial holding company, Bloomberg News reported.

The plan calls for putting all of Ant's businesses into the holding company, including its technology offerings in areas like blockchain and food-delivery, according to a report on Bloomberg's website.

It cited people familiar with the matter as saying that an official announcement could come before the start of China's Lunar New Year holiday which begins on Feb. 11.

Ant declined to comment. China's central bank did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

The company, an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, was set to make its market debut in November. However, an October speech by its founder Jack Ma in which he blasted China's regulatory system kicked off a series of events that eventually led to the suspension of Ant's $37 billion IPO.

Chinese regulators have since warned Ant and the wider technology industry that they intend to impose tighter regulations, reversing a once laissez faire approach they took towards the sector and internet finance platforms. Ant's businesses include payment processing, consumer lending and insurance products distribution.

Bloomberg also said that Ant was still exploring possibilities to revive its initial public offering, citing one person familiar with the matter. However, it said that it was unclear how long authorities would need to sign off on a listing given the financial holding company framework was so new.

Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares closed 0.4% higher on Wednesday. They tumbled early in the session after the company reported its third-quarter results and warned that it faced a near-term challenge from changing regulations.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru, Yingzhi Yang and Zoey Zhang in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; editing by Edmund Blair and Kim Coghill)