Alibaba-W (09988) plans to place 710 million new shares to raise a net capital of about HK$79.7 billion, all of which will be used to invest in its full-stack AI capabilities

Zhitong Finance App News, Alibaba-W (09988) issued an announcement. On August 23, 2026, the company signed a placement agreement with the joint overall coordinator (for itself and on behalf of the co-bookkeeping manager). According to this, the company agreed to appoint a joint overall coordinator and a joint bookkeeping manager to handle the placement matters, and the joint overall coordinator has agreed to act as the company's agent to procure no less than six undertakers (professional, institutional or other investors who are non-US persons outside the US) at an allotment price of HK$112.70 per share 100 million new shares. The placement is expected to be completed on August 26, 2026, subject to customary completion conditions.

The placement price of HK$112.70 per share represents: (a) a discount of approximately 3.6% from the reference share price; and (b) a discount of approximately 9.0% from the average closing price of US$126.33 per American Depositary Share reported on the NYSE for the last five consecutive trading days up to August 21, 2026 (i.e., the closing price of the last trading day before the placement agreement was signed) (converted and divided by 8 shares divided by the common stock to American Depositary Shares ratio, or HK$123.80). The total number of shares placed under the placement was 710 million new shares, which is equivalent to about 3.70% of the 19.175 billion shares issued as of the date of the placement agreement, and about 3.57% of the total number of issued shares expanded after allotment and issuance of the placed shares (assuming that there was no change in the number of shares issued by the company between the date of the placement agreement and the date of delivery, with the exception of the placed shares to be distributed and issued).

Assuming that the total number of shares placed has been placed to the consignee, the total amount of the placement proceeds is estimated to be HK$80 billion, while the net proceeds from the placement (after deducting placement commissions and estimated expenses) are approximately HK$79.7 billion. The placement aims to further strengthen Alibaba's leading position in global AI. Alibaba plans to use 100% of the net proceeds from the proposed placement to invest in its full-stack AI capabilities to strengthen AI infrastructure.