Friday, March 08, 2013

Alibaba looking to US$8 billion loan deal

News this week: According to Reuters, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is looking to borrow up to US$8 billion to refinance the company’s existing debts. Part of the funds will be used towards the US$7.1 billion share buyback deal agreed with majority shareholder Yahoo in May 2012. Alibaba borrowed US$4 billion in loan last year to fund the privatisation of B2B subsidiary Alibaba.com and to finance the Yahoo share buyback.

In other news, various media outlets suggest Alibaba is preparing for a possible initial public offering (IPO) in 2013. Estimations value the company between US$55 billion and US$80 billion. Financial market commentators see the stepping down of company chief executive Jack Ma in May 2013 as a possible indicator of an IPO this year, with Hong Kong and New York suggested as possible listing destinations.

Alibaba recently underwent company restructuring in July 2012 and January this year.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

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