Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) is planning to raise as much as US$8 billion as soon as next week in its first US bond sale, just two months after the Chinese company completed the biggest public stock offering ever, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Asia’s largest Internet company is to use the proceeds to refinance its credit facilities, according to a statement released on Thursday. The bonds are to be rated “A+” — the fifth highest investment-grade by Standard & Poor’s — and an equivalent “A1” by Moody’s Investors Service.
The debentures would be on top of the US$25 billion Alibaba collected in a September initial public offering, which was the biggest share sale on record. The Hangzhou, China-based e-commerce group, with a market capitalization of almost US$300 billion, has US$11 billion in loans and credit lines, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Given that they just had their IPO, they don’t necessarily need to come to market,” Leader Capital Corp fixed-income analyst Nathan Barnard said in a telephone interview. “They’re pretty flush with capital. It’s another example of companies being opportunistic and trying to take advantage of low rates while they can.”
Should Alibaba raise US$8 billion, the bond sale would be the largest ever denominated in US dollars in Asia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, surpassing Bank of China Ltd (中國銀行), which raised US$6.5 billion last month selling additional Tier 1 securities.
“The ratings reflect Alibaba’s dominant position in China’s online shopping market,” according to Fitch Ratings Ltd. “The ratings also benefit from Alibaba’s robust profitability and strong cash generation.”
Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co are set to market the debt to investors starting next week, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified, citing lack of authorization to speak publicly.
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