Alibaba Said to Get About $2.5 Billion in Loan Commitments

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China’s biggest electronic commerce company, received about $2.5 billion in bank commitments in the senior syndication stage of a $3 billion loan, according to two people familiar with the matter.

As many as 15 banks have committed to the facility, said the people, who declined to be identified because the terms are private. The loan is fully underwritten, people familiar with the matter said previously.

Alibaba Group, controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, is seeking the financing to take Alibaba.com Ltd. private. It has offered as much as HK$19.6 billion ($2.5 billion) to buy the 27 percent stake in the unit that it doesn’t already own.

Alibaba.com had the smallest quarterly profit in two years after selling fewer website subscriptions to exporters. Net income fell to 339.2 million yuan ($54 million) in the three months ended March 31, from 452.5 million yuan in the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement on April 23.

To contact the reporters on this story: Christine Idzelis in New York at cidzelis@bloomberg.net; Wendy Mock in Hong Kong at wmock3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah McDonald at smcdonald23@bloomberg.net