Alibaba seeks US$1.5 billion from exchangeable bonds for cloud, e-commerce push

Alibaba Group Holding plans to raise HK$12 billion (US$1.5 billion) via exchangeable bonds to fund its cloud business and international e-commerce operations, the company said on Thursday.

The bonds will not pay interest but will allow bondholders to exchange them for shares of its subsidiary, Alibaba Health Information Technology.

“Alibaba Group intends to use the net proceeds from the bond offering for general corporate purposes, including investments to support the development of our cloud infrastructure and international commerce businesses,” Alibaba, which also owns the Post, said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The zero-coupon exchangeable bonds maturing on July 9, 2032, would be sold via a private offering to non-US persons, the filing said, adding that the timing of the offering would depend on market conditions.

Holders of the bonds may exchange all or any portion of the bonds at any time after 41 days from issuance until five days before their maturity date. The exchange price will be determined at the time of bond pricing.