Jack Ma to test China stigma with Alibaba bond sale

Singapore

JACK Ma had to play down Alibaba Group Holding's China roots during a world-record initial public offering (IPO). Now he's due to test confidence in the state-dominated economy with Asia's biggest dollar bond sale.

The Internet giant, which Mr Ma said in September just "happens to be in China", may pay a yield-premium on the planned US$8 billion issue that is higher than developed-market peers, according to Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon. Concerns that corporate governance and disclosure in the nation are lagging have forced investment-grade Chinese issuers to pay 15 basis points more on average than their Asian peers this year to sell notes, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes.