Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is all set to raise ~$5bn through the sale of senior unsecured dollar bonds and sustainability linked bonds. The bonds are likely to be issued across four maturities with the longest being 40 years, according to IFR. The underwriters for the debt issuance include Citigroup, Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and CICC Hong Kong Securities Limited. The proceeds are likely to be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital needs, repayment of offshore debt and potential acquisitions of or investments in complementary businesses. The proceeds of the sustainability linked bonds would be used towards green buildings, energy efficiency, renewable energy and COVID-19 crisis response. The notes would be governed by New York laws and could carry covenants that would restrict the company’s ability to incur certain debt secured by liens. The company was planning to raise ~$5bn last month, which got stalled after the company was subject to a probe by antitrust agencies in China. An investigation had also been launched on the company’s affiliate Ant Group by Beijing in November last year. The company is now gearing up to launch the dollar bond deal after it reported a 37% increase in quarterly revenue that beat analysts’ expectations. The last issuance by the company was a $7bn five tranche bond issue in 2017.
Alibaba’s 4.2% 2047s were down 0.24 at 116.99 while its 4.4% 2057s were up 0.14 at 123.33.
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