Tencent Holdings in Talks For $2 Billion Loan
April 15 2016 - 1:10AM
Dow Jones News
HONG KONG—Tencent Holdings Ltd. is in talks with banks to raise
$2 billion in a syndicated loan, people familiar with the matter
said, as the Chinese social network company seeks to raise funds
for more acquisitions and expand into new areas such as financial
services.
China's biggest Internet companies Tencent and online shopping
firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. have been raising billions of
dollars in bank loans over the past several months to finance their
expansion through acquisitions in China and abroad. Tencent's
discussions about the new loan come after the company in November
secured $1.5 billion in a syndicated bank loan.
Last month, Alibaba said it had secured a $3 billion syndicated
loan.
Tencent and Alibaba have been ramping up their investments in a
wide range of businesses, from ride-sharing to online entertainment
and financial services. In January, Tencent participated in a $3.3
billion investment round for Meituan-Dianping, China's biggest
online provider of restaurant bookings, movie ticketing and other
on-demand services.
Last week, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street
Journal that both Tencent and Alibaba are participating in a new
$1.5 billion investment round for Beijing-based ride-sharing
company Didi Kuaidi Joint Co., the biggest Chinese competitor to
Uber Technologies Inc.
Earlier this week, Alibaba said it would invest about $1 billion
for a controlling stake in Singapore-based online shopping startup
Lazada Group.
Tencent's new loan, expected to close by next month, would
likely help finance more acquisitions as well as the company's
continued expansion in financial services, the people said.
The company, which last year started offering small personal
loans to users of its WeChat messaging app, is also the largest
shareholder of its online banking affiliate, WeBank.
WeBank competes with Alibaba's financial services affiliate, Ant
Financial Services Group.
The five banks that were underwriters for Tencent's previous
$1.5 billion loan in November—Citigroup Inc., Australia & New
Zealand Banking Group, Bank of China, HSBC Holdings PLC and Mizuho
Financial Group—will be underwriters again for the new $2 billion
loan, the people said.
Write to Juro Osawa at juro.osawa@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 15, 2016 00:55 ET (04:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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