Chinese online retailer Alibaba Group has entered into a $3bn five-year loan agreement in order to support its domestic and international acquisition.
In a filing with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company stated that it had signed a syndicated loan deal with a group of eight financers.
It also stated that the amount could be hiked as per requirements.
The company stated in the filing: "The loan, which is subject to upsize through oversubscriptions in syndication, has a five-year bullet maturity and is priced at 110 basis points over LIBOR."
The company intends to use the loan for general corporate purposes and has not made further disclosures regarding the same.
Sources with knowledge on the matter said that ANZ, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Mizuho Bank and Morgan Stanley, are said to be the lead finance arrangers of the loan, reported Reuters.
The group has been diversifying in areas beyond its core business such as online video, as it experiences a slowdown of its business volume.
Alibaba has been increasing its presence internationally with varied investments. Media is one of the company's focuses. Recently, the company entered into a definite agreement to acquire the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and other media assets of SCMP Group Limited.
Apart from the flagship South China Morning Post newspaper, the agreement included the acquisition of the magazine, recruitment, outdoor media, events & conferences, education and digital media businesses of SCMP Group Limited.
Alibaba is also focused on fostering the Indian market where it is increasing its investment in startups. It has invested in Snapdeal and is also in talks of acquiring a stake in Flipkart.
