Alibaba weighs options to reduce stake in ZTO Express
ALIBABA Group Holding Ltd. is considering options to pare down its minority stake in express delivery firm ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
Alibaba has held talks with investment banks to evaluate a potential sale of bonds exchangeable into the shares of ZTO Express, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Considerations are ongoing and Alibaba may still decide against selling exchangeable bonds, the people said.
Representatives for Alibaba and ZTO didn't immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Alibaba led a group of investors in buying 10% of ZTO for $1.38 billion in 2018 to boost its global shipping services. The investor group included Alibaba's logistics arm Cainiao, it said at the time, without identifying other buyers.
ZTO Express raised $1.4 billion in an initial public offering in New York in 2016, and then a second listing in Hong Kong raised a similar amount in 2020.
ZTO's shares are down about 13% in the US this year. The Shanghai-based company has a market value of around $13.6 billion.
A sale of exchangeable bonds by Alibaba would echo a similar move by fellow Chinese tech company Baidu Inc., which in March raised $2 billion by selling bonds exchangeable into the Hong Kong shares of online-travel agency Trip.com Group Ltd. –BLOOMBERG
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
2 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
China says it will speed up rare earths exports to EU firms
China suspended exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets last month. (EPA Images pic) SHANGHAI : China is willing to accelerate the examination and approval of rare earth exports to European Union firms and will also deliver a verdict on its trade investigation of EU brandy imports by July 5, its commerce ministry said today. Price commitment consultations between China and the EU on Chinese-made electric vehicles exported to the EU have also entered a final stage but efforts from both sides are still needed, according to a statement on the Chinese commerce ministry's website. The issues were discussed between Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao and EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic in Paris on Tuesday, according to the statement. The comments mark progress on matters that have vexed China's relationship with the European Union over the past year. Most recently, China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has upended the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. The ministry said China attached great importance to the EU's concerns and 'was willing to establish a green channel for qualified applications to speed up the approval process'. Commerce minister Wang during the meeting 'expressed the hope that the EU will meet us halfway and take effective measures to facilitate, safeguard and promote compliant trade in high-tech products to China', according to the statement. Chinese anti-dumping measures that applied duties of up to 39% on imports of European brandy – with French cognac bearing the brunt – have also strained relations between Paris and Beijing. The brandy duties were enforced days after the European Union took action against Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to shield its local industry, prompting France's President Emmanuel Macron to accuse Beijing of 'pure retaliation'. The Chinese duties have dented sales of brands including LVMH's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard's Martell and Remy Cointreau. Beijing was initially meant to make a final decision on the brandy duties by January, but extended the deadline to April and then again to July 5. China's commerce ministry said today that French companies and relevant associations had proactively submitted applications on price commitments for brandy to China and that Chinese investigators had reached an agreement with them on the core terms. Chinese authorities were now reviewing the complete text on those commitments and would issue a final announcement before July 5, it said. In April, the European Commission said the EU and China had also agreed to look into setting minimum prices of Chinese-made electric vehicles instead of tariffs imposed by the EU last year. China's commerce ministry said the EU had also proposed exploring 'new technical paths' relating to EVs, which the Chinese side was now evaluating.
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Hong Kong's still ‘over' but Stephen Roach says city a surprise trade war winner
American economist Stephen Roach has said that Hong Kong has benefited from the US-China trade war despite last year having declared the city to be 'over', even as he claimed that other aspects of the financial hub had worsened. The former Morgan Stanley Asia chairman sparked debate last year after he penned an opinion piece which argued, in part, that Hong Kong would be caught in the 'crossfire' of the worsening US-China rivalry. 'The word caught is the word that, if I had to write the piece again, I would probably change, because I think, ironically, Hong Kong has benefited from the crossfire between the US and China,' he told the Post in a recent interview. Despite worsening ties between the two superpowers since US President Donald Trump began levying his so-called reciprocal tariffs on China and the rest of the world, Hong Kong's stock market has seen solid gains. The benchmark Hang Seng Index is up by around 50 per cent since Roach made his original claim, while Hong Kong has rocketed to the top of the global fundraising table following a string of high-profile initial public offerings last month, including from mainland Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology. Roach, who is now a faculty member at Yale University, said the 'sell America' trade had become a 'global mantra' and Hong Kong was a beneficiary. But asked whether he felt his initial assessment of the city being 'over' was premature, he noted he would say the same again. 'No economy or city state is over ... but this image of a dynamic, powerful system as part of the 'one country, two systems' model, I think that's just as close to being over today as it was when I originally wrote the piece,' he said, referring to the city's governing principle. 'The governance story is still, I think, very much working against this notion of Hong Kong as a free, independent, autonomous city state. If anything, it's gotten worse.' Roach added that the strong performance of the city's stock market had 'instilled sort of a new swagger in Hong Kong bordering on denial'. He said there were 'questions that could be raised' about the city's independent rule of law, pointing to the departure of foreign non-permanent judges. He also raised concerns about the fast-tracking of the domestic national security law last year and what he described as continuing efforts to 'quash dissent'. While the Hong Kong government had 'risen to the challenge' to demonstrate to the world that the city should be considered 'special', American investors in particular had developed an 'unwillingness' to distinguish it from the rest of China, he said. 'Where I've come out, reluctantly, is that as great a city as Hong Kong is, it's just another big Chinese city,' he said. 'I think it's increasingly a one country, one system model with a solid financial capital raising infrastructure embedded in Hong Kong.' Executive Council convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who previously hit back at Roach over his 'Hong Kong is over' remarks, maintained that the American economist did not understand the city. She said the 'pessimistic views' Roach expressed last year 'were primarily based on the Hong Kong stock market's poor performance'. 'He overlooked China's strength in technological innovations and Hong Kong's unique advantages based on its separate systems. We are the only part of China that can invest, manage and provide trading platforms for digital assets.' She cited the city's recently passed law on stablecoins, which she said would help Hong Kong be the country's 'testing ground' for cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency token that maintain a fixed value by being pegged to a reference asset, typically fiat currencies such as the US dollar. The law, which was passed last month and is set to take effect later this year, establishes a regulatory regime for stablecoins, paving the way for issuers to obtain licences and sell the digital assets to the public. 'Despite ongoing US-China tensions, Hong Kong will continue to have an important role to play in building bridges between China and the West,' Ip said. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
New partnership to enhance vocational education, training in Laos
A representative from the Lao School of Business and Commerce (left) and a representative from the LFND display the signed agreement in Vientiane last week. VIENTIANE: Young people from ethnic communities and families of Lao Front for National Development's (LFND) staff will have greater access to free vocational and language education under new cooperation agreements aimed at strengthening human resources and promoting inclusive development. The Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the Research and Training Centre of the Central (LFND) and the Lao School of Business and Commerce (LSBC) and the Ethnic Technical and Vocational College was signed in Vientiane last week. The agreements outline long-term collaboration in scholarship provision, curriculum development, and skills training. Under the MoC with LSBC, the school will offer 95 full scholarships each year for a Higher Diploma in Business Administration. Of these, five are reserved for children of LFND central staff, while 90 are allocated to Grade 7 students from Vientiane and 17 provinces. LSBC will waive tuition fees for all recipients during the three-year programme. The school will also grant 100 percent tuition-free English language training to LFND employees and a 50 percent fee reduction for their spouses and children. It will provide six-monthly and annual reports to the LFND on student performance and academic progress. Meanwhile, the cooperation with the Ethnic Technical and Vocational College targets ethnic high school graduates, offering scholarships in Chinese-language higher education programmes. The college will award three scholarships per year for the first five years and six per year for the following 12 years, all with full tuition exemptions. To support this initiative, the LFND will assist in developing the college's campus in Viengkeo village, Xaythany district, coordinate with relevant authorities, and contribute political education content to the curriculum. Two LFND staff will be assigned to the college, and scholarship recipients' progress will be monitored regularly. Both colleges will work with the LFND to introduce short-term training courses in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean for staff, students, and the public. They also plan to carry out joint research to improve educational quality and better align with labour market needs. The MoC with LSBC is valid from 2025 to 2030, while the agreement with the Ethnic Technical and Vocational College will run from 2025 to 2040. These partnerships mark a significant step in expanding education opportunities and improving workforce readiness for communities across Laos. - Vientiane Times/ANN
