Alibaba Group plans to raise up to HK$80 billion (about $10.2 billion) in a secondary share offering in Hong Kong, the largest follow-on offering ever by a company listed there, according to filings.
The offering consists of 710 million ordinary shares priced at HK$112.70 each, a 3.6% discount to the stock’s last close. The deal is structured as an offshore transaction, excluding U.S. investors due to registration requirements under U.S. securities laws.
Demand has been strong, with sovereign wealth funds among the buyers, prompting Alibaba to expand the offering size after it was heavily oversubscribed. The transaction ranks as the third-largest secondary share sale globally this year, trailing offerings by Alphabet and Intel.
The proceeds will fund Alibaba’s full-stack AI development, covering semiconductors, computing infrastructure, and AI model deployment. The company aims to accelerate its capital expenditure payback period from three years to 2.5 years, citing growing demand for AI services.
Short-term financials reflect the heavy investment: net income fell 75% year-over-year in the April-to-June quarter as AI-related spending surged. CEO Eddie Wu emphasized the need to build sufficient computing capacity to capture future growth.
Joint bookrunners for the deal include Morgan Stanley, HSBC, UBS, and China International Capital Corp. Reuters reported the plan on Sunday.
