Singapore’s State owned wealth funds Temasek and GIC bought combined US1$ billion worth shares in the largest Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holdings. The transaction was a part of US$8.9 billion sale of Alibaba’s stocks held by the company’s biggest shareholder Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp.
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd, and state investor Temasek Holdings each purchased stakes worth $500 million of Alibaba shares at $74.00 apiece through subsidiaries, Alibaba remarked on the SoftBank sale announced on Tuesday. GIC and Temasek confirmed the news but refrained to commented further on the sale.
Alibaba purchased $2 billion of its own stock at the same price, in a move which would add to earnings and cut the company’s debt.
Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai told analysts on a call.
Members of the Alibaba Partnership of senior executives and founders purchased another $400 million at the same per share price. The closing is scheduled for June 10.
SoftBank also offered $5.5 billion in debt securities increasing the amount by $500 million which can be exchanged for either cash or Alibaba’s stock at the maturity date in three years, Tsai mentioned. The company also said it would remain Alibaba’s largest shareholder after the sale with about 28% stake. Shares of Alibaba fell about 6.5% to close at $76.69.
