Alibaba Group (HKG:9988) is seeking to raise HK$80 billion in gross proceeds from a share sale, with the online retail giant-turned-AI player offering 710 million new shares at HK$112.70 each.
The HK$112.70 placing price represents a 3.6% discount to the referenced share price and a 9.0% discount to the five-day average closing price, with the deal expected to close on Aug. 26.
Alibaba intends to use 100% of the net proceeds, estimated at approximately HK$79.7 billion, to expand and enhance its full-stack AI capabilities and infrastructure.
The placing is being conducted under the company's existing general mandate, which authorizes the issuance of up to 10% of its share capital, and will not require further shareholder approval, with the new shares representing approximately 3.57% of the enlarged share capital.
The company entered into a placing agreement on Aug. 23, with joint overall coordinators CICC, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and UBS for the share sale.