Alibaba just put a price tag on its AI ambitions: $10.2 billion. The Chinese tech conglomerate announced a share placement in Hong Kong worth HK$80 billion, making it the largest primary follow-on offering ever from a Hong Kong-listed company.
The timing is telling. Alibaba’s fiscal Q1 2027 results revealed a 75% plunge in net profit, driven by capital expenditures of roughly RMB 67.7 billion (around $9.5 billion).
The biggest Hong Kong equity deal, period
Globally, the offering ranks third-largest this year, trailing only Alphabet and Intel.
Demand has been strong enough that Alibaba actually increased the size of the placement due to oversubscription. Sovereign wealth funds have been particularly active buyers.
