Alibaba Group plans to raise up to HK$80 billion ($10.2 billion) through a record follow-on share sale in Hong Kong, the largest ever by a company listed in the city, as it accelerates investment in artificial intelligence.
The e-commerce and cloud computing group will sell 710 million ordinary shares at HK$112.70 apiece, a 3.6% discount to its latest closing price. The transaction ranks as the world’s third-largest primary follow-on offering of 2026, trailing only offerings by Alphabet and Intel, according to market data.
Proceeds will fund the expansion of Alibaba’s "full stack" AI capabilities, including semiconductors, computing infrastructure, and AI model development. The company, which has already deployed nearly half of its three-year capital expenditure program, aims to reduce its payback period for AI investments to 2.5 years from three years amid rising demand.
Alibaba’s latest earnings report showed a 75% year-over-year decline in net profit during the April-to-June quarter, driven by elevated AI-related spending. The offering attracted strong investor demand, including interest from sovereign wealth funds, prompting an increase in the deal size after it became oversubscribed.
The share sale is structured as an offshore transaction and is not registered under U.S. securities law, restricting participation to non-American investors. Joint bookrunners for the deal include Morgan Stanley, HSBC, UBS, and China International Capital Corp.
Alibaba, led by Chief Executive Eddie Wu, has positioned AI as a core pillar of its long-term growth strategy amid intensifying competition in cloud computing and e-commerce.
