Maples Group Advises Alibaba on Landmark US$5 Billion Dual Currency Bond Deal

Maples and Calder, the Maples Group’s law firm, is pleased to have advised Alibaba Group Holding Limited (“Alibaba”), in relation to its US$5 billion dual currency bond transaction which marks the largest corporate bond issue of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region this year. Alibaba priced an offering of aggregate principal amount of US$2.65 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated notes (the “USD Notes”) and CNY17 billion (approximately, US$2.35 billion) worth of offshore yuan-denominated bonds (the “CNY Notes”). The USD Notes are listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited and the CNY Notes are listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (“HKSE”).

Alibaba is a Chinese multinational conglomerate specialising in e-commerce, retail, internet, cloud computing, digital media and entertainment, and technology. It is one of the world’s largest retailers and e-commerce companies.

A team based in the firm’s Hong Kong office acted as Cayman Islands counsel to Alibaba and was led by Corporate Partners, Richard Spooner and Karen Zhang Pallaras. The Maples Group has been working with Alibaba for over two decades, having advised on many of its notable transactions, such as its US IPO in 2014, which represents the largest IPO in the global financial history and its secondary listing on the HKSE, which was the largest Hong Kong IPO in 2019.

Commenting on the transaction, Richard said “We were delighted to support our long-standing client, Alibaba, on this landmark transaction which now stands as the largest corporate bond issue in the Asia-Pacific region this year. Having previously advised on both of their iconic US and Hong Kong IPOs, it is an honour to continue our partnership with Alibaba through this significant bond issuance.”

Karen added “With Hong Kong’s unique advantage of having strong connections to both the Mainland China and the global market, we look forward to seeing Hong Kong further develop its role as an offshore centre to trade yuan-denominated assets.”

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as US legal counsel and Fangda Partners acted as PRC counsel to Alibaba. Sidley Austin acted as US legal counsel and Jingtian & Gongcheng acted as PRC counsel to initial purchasers.