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Alibaba raises US$5 billion from dual-currency bond issue, boosting Hong Kong’s hub status
The deal marks the biggest corporate bond issue of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region this year
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Wency Chenin Shanghai
Alibaba Group Holding raised US$5 billion from a multi-tranche dual-currency bond offering, the Chinese e-commerce giant said on Wednesday, an initiative that looks to enhance Hong Kong’s role as an international financial centre.
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Hangzhou-based Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, concurrently issued US$2.65 billion in US dollar-denominated notes and 17 billion yuan (US$2.35 billion) in offshore yuan-denominated notes, following the firm’s announcement on Monday of a bond offering plan. Net proceeds are to be used for general corporate purposes, including repayment of offshore debt and share buy-backs.
The company’s latest bond offering reflects efforts by the mainland and Hong Kong to bolster the city’s financial standing, including its function as an offshore centre to trade yuan-denominated assets.
Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng said at the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit this week that Beijing will continue to back the city’s role as the offshore yuan hub, part of a long-term strategy outlined in China’s third plenum. The Communist Party’s third plenum in July mapped out a wide range of measures that the country will focus on for the next five years and beyond.
Alibaba’s latest deal already represents the biggest corporate bond issue of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region this year, according to London Stock Exchange Group data. It also marks Alibaba’s return to the public dollar-bond market after its US$5 billion offering in 2021.
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The company’s yuan-denominated bond offering was also the largest such corporate debt issue in Hong Kong.
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