Alibaba sells its first public dollar bonds

On Wednesday, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced it has priced an offering of $2.65 billion aggregate principal amount of US dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes and 17 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) worth of yuan-denominated senior unsecured notes.

The move indicates that Alibaba sold its first public dollar bonds in nearly four years, part of a dual-currency transaction by the Chinese tech heavyweight to repay offshore debt and repurchase equity.

The offering of the US dollars notes is expected to close on Nov 26, and the offering of the yuan notes is expected to close on Nov 28, both subject to customary closing conditions, the company said in a statement.

Alibaba said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the notes for general corporate purposes, including repayment of offshore debt and share repurchases.

fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn