New | China’s Ali Pictures raises HK$12.11 billion from share placement

Ali Pictures Group will raise net proceeds of HK$12.11 billion from a share placement which may be used to acquire media companies, the Hong Kong-listed film company announced on Thursday morning.

“The company intends to use the net proceeds from the placing for general working capital and to finance potential acquisitions arising out of media-related investment opportunities. The company has not identified any specific acquisition targets,” said Ali Pictures, a unit of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

On Wednesday, Ali Pictures entered into an agreement to place 3.2 billion shares at HK$2.90 per share, a 19.89 per cent discount to its last traded share price of HK$3.62, and excluding brokerage fees.

Ali Pictures shares were suspended on Tuesday and resume trading on Thursday morning. The 4.2 billion placing will represent 16.64 per cent of Ali Pictures’ enlarged share capital.

The placing agents are Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley.

The shares will be placed to at least six independent institutional and/or individual investors. Ali Pictures’ last fund raising activity was in June 2014, when it raised HK$30 million from the conversion of convertible notes and 4.95 billion yuan from a share issue.