Alibaba prices HK$80 billion new share placement to fund AI expansion
Chinese technology group Alibaba has priced an HK$80 billion (US$10.3 billion) placement of new shares in Hong Kong, pledging all net proceeds to artificial intelligence development and infrastructure, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Alibaba Group said it would issue 710 million ordinary shares at HK$112.70 each to professional, institutional and other investors outside the United States. The transaction is expected to close on August 26, subject to customary conditions.
The placement is expected to generate gross proceeds of HK$80 billion and net proceeds of approximately HK$79.7 billion after commissions and other expenses. The company said the entire amount would be invested in its full-stack AI capabilities, including the expansion and upgrading of computing infrastructure.
The new shares represent approximately 3.7% of Alibaba’s currently issued share capital and 3.57% of the enlarged total following the transaction, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The placement price is 3.6% below the referenced share price and 9% below the average closing price of Alibaba’s American depositary shares over the five trading days through August 21, adjusted to an ordinary-share basis.
The fundraising comes as Alibaba accelerates spending across the AI technology chain, from computing infrastructure and cloud services to its Qwen family of models and consumer and enterprise applications.
In its latest quarterly results, the company said revenue from AI Cloud and Compute Services rose 45% year-on-year to RMB48.4 billion (US$7.1 billion) in the three months ending June 30. Capital expenditure increased 75% to nearly US$10 billion, while free cash flow recorded an outflow of RMB44.7 billion, largely due to higher spending on cloud infrastructure.
In February 2025, Alibaba announced plans to invest at least RMB380 billion (US$53 billion) in AI and cloud infrastructure over three years - more than it had spent in the two areas during the previous decade.
Earlier, Qazinform reported on how China’s efforts to treat data as an economic asset could influence competition in artificial intelligence, particularly in industrial and embodied AI.
