Japanese government bond yields fell on Thursday after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady but warned of escalating risks to the economic outlook as new state of emergency measures rolled out this month hit consumption.
By Reuters Staff
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HONG KONG, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to raise at least $5 billion through the sale of a U.S. dollar-denominated bond this month, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Depending on investor response, proceeds could reach $8 billion which Alibaba is likely to use for general corporate expenditure, one of the people said.
The plan, including the timeline, is not final and subject to change, the people said, declining to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Alibaba declined to comment.
The debt raising plan comes months after an October speech from billionaire co-founder Jack Ma about regulation stifling innovation that led to the suspension of affiliate Ant Group’s blockbuster $37 billion initial public offering.
Trading platform iSTOX, backed by Singapore Exchange and other companies, is raising $50 million from a group of investors led by two Japanese state-backed firms in its first major financing round.
China's banking and insurance regulator urged consumers on Tuesday to guard against excessive borrowing spurred by internet platforms, hiding the real costs of such debt.