updated: Jan 06 2021, 14:27 ist
China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to raise at least $5 billion through the sale of a US dollar-denominated bond this month, four people with knowledge of the matter said, amid regulatory scrutiny of co-founder Jack Ma's empire.
Depending on investor response, proceeds could reach $8 billion which the e-commerce leader is likely to use for general corporate expenditure, one of the people said.
The fundraising will be a test of investor sentiment towards Alibaba, amid a regulatory crackdown on it and financial technology affiliate Ant Group. Chinese officials have come down hard on Ma's business empire since he publicly criticised the country's regulatory system in October setting off a chain of events that resulted in the halting of Ant Group's $37 billion stock market listing.