Singapore buys $1 bln in Alibaba stock in SoftBank sale

By Reuters/Parikshit Mishra June 1, 2016 | 05:23 pm PT

A logo of Alibaba Group is pictured at its headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, October 14, 2015. Photo by REUTERS/Stringer/File photo CHINA OUT.

Singapore sovereign wealth funds bought $1 billion of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's shares as part of an $8.9 billion sale by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, Alibaba's biggest shareholder, the company said on Wednesday.

Singapore's GIC Private, Ltd and Temasek Holdings each purchased $500 million of Alibaba shares at $74.00 apiece through subsidiaries, Alibaba said, offering details of the SoftBank sale announced on Tuesday.

Alibaba purchased $2 billion of its own stock at the same price, in a move which would add to earnings, Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai told analysts on a call.

Members of the Alibaba Partnership of senior executives and founders purchased another $400 million, as expected, at the $74 per share price, he added.

People walk past a retail shop of the SoftBank telecommunications company in Tokyo, Japan, May 10, 2016. Photo by REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

SoftBank also offered $5.5 billion in debt securities, which can be exchanged for Alibaba stock in three years, Tsai said.

SoftBank Group said on Tuesday it would sell at least $7.9 billion of shares in Alibaba to cut the Japanese company's debt. It said it would remain Alibaba's largest shareholder after the sale.

Shares of Alibaba fell about 6.5 percent to close at $76.69.