Alibaba to secure loan, eyes HK unit buyout

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group is set to sign on Monday a $3 billion loan it plans to use to take private its Hong Kong-listed unit, Alibaba.com, Thomson Reuters publication Basis Point reported. Alibaba Group, which is 40 per cent-owned by Yahoo Inc, is looking to take Alibaba.com private in a bid to strengthen founder Jack Ma’s control of his e-commerce empire. Alibaba owns 73 per cent of Alibaba.com, which operates an e-commerce website linking Chinese businesses to overseas buyers. The rest of the stock is publicly traded and held by investors including Morgan Stanley, Vanguard Group and Capital International, according to Thomson Reuters data. Six banks -ANZ, Credit Suisse, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Mizuho Corporate Bank -have each provided underwritten commitments of $500 million for the loan, which was reduced from the $4 billion sought in early December to attract more lenders. Alibaba Group has been in negotiations with Yahoo to swap 25 per cent of the US Internet group’s stake in Alibaba as part of a complex $17 billion deal that would strengthen Ma’s control, and give Yahoo cash.