Xiaomi secures $1b loan to aid retail, global expansion

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun speaks at Mi 5X launching event in Beijing, July 26, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Xiaomi announced Friday that its wholly owned subsidiary Xiaomi HK Ltd has signed a three-year $1 billion syndicated loan agreement with 18 banks.

Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley served as joint global coordinator for this loan, with Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Deutsche Bank AG, and Wing Lung Bank Ltd as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners.

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun said that "new retail," which is the integration of online and offline retail, and globalization are two of the company's top five strategic areas for development.

"The syndicated loan will further boost its efforts to develop these areas," he added.

Xiaomi CFO Chew Shouzi said: "The global syndicate of top-tier banks is a strong endorsement of Xiaomi by the international capital markets."

Xiaomi claimed that it shipped 23.16 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 70 percent from the previous quarter.

Xiaomi recently also fine-tuned its "triathlon" business model from "hardware + software + internet services" to "hardware + new retail + internet services," emphasizing the importance of new retail to the company's strategy.

To date, Xiaomi has opened 149 Mi Home stores across China and will open 1,000 such stores in the next three years, Lei said on the launch ceremony of Mi 5X on Wednesday in Beijing.

Xiaomi is now present in over 40 countries and regions, according to Lei.

"Innovation combined with patent accumulation is the cornerstone of Xiaomi's overseas expansion strategy," Lei said. The company currently has 4,806 granted patent assets, of which 2,404 are international patents.

Earlier this year, Xiaomi signed a multi-year patent agreement with Nokia, which included Xiaomi's acquisition of patent assets from Nokia.

Xiaomi had previously secured a three-year $1 billion syndicated loan in 2014.