Jack Ma has not been seen in public for more than two months, and at the same time, investors are starting to wonder whether Alibaba’s $8 billion in bonds for overseas markets can still be issued as U.S. sanctions against Chinese companies get tougher and the U.S.-China situation becomes more challenging.
Bloomberg reported on Jan. 14 that Alibaba had planned to issue up to $8 billion in offshore bonds this week, but some investors interested in Ali’s bonds said they have not yet received presentation materials, people familiar with the matter said. The people familiar with the matter did not want to be named because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
An Alibaba spokesman did not comment on the progress of the bond issue.
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba who currently holds a 4.8 percent stake in the company, has not been seen in public for more than two months since November 2020, amid speculation and interpretations about his whereabouts.
Bloomberg reports that with tougher U.S. sanctions against Chinese companies and an increasingly challenging situation between the U.S. and China, investors are beginning to wonder if the Chinese e-commerce giant will move forward with a huge dollar bond offering, with no movement yet in sight.
Bloomberg previously reported that Alibaba was aiming to raise at least $5 billion in the dollar-denominated bond issue, but could raise up to $8 billion depending on demand conditions. That amount would be the same as the company’s record for a single offshore bond offering by a Chinese company, set in 2014.
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