(Bloomberg) -- Suning.com Co. local bonds climbed Wednesday after news that a consortium led by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and a provincial government may be close to buying a stake in part of the troubled Suning conglomerate.
A 5.5% yuan-denominated note maturing in August climbed as much as 1.9% to reach the highest in 10 months, before closing up just 0.4%. Suning.com's 4.9% onshore bond due in 2023 rose 1% Wednesday to 94.5 yuan.
Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that a group including Alibaba and the government of Jiangsu province, where Chinese billionaire Zhang Jindong's Suning empire is based, are nearing a deal to buy a stake in the online retail arm. The development could ease concerns about early signs of a liquidity crisis at the conglomerate.
Suning Appliance Group Co. has put off more than 5 billion yuan of combined bond maturity payments since February. But it spent 887 million yuan ($137 million) to repurchase some of its 7.3% local note due in 2023 after some investors triggered an option for early redemption, according to calculations of information in a private bond filing seen by Bloomberg.
Suning Appliance still has a $600 million dollar bond note maturing in September and a combined 24 billion yuan of onshore notes due in 2022 and 2023, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Suning.com needs to repay or refinance 1.7 billion yuan of local securities through August, including the 5.5% bond.
The agent of Suning International Group's $500 million loan maturing in 2022 notified lenders it received funds for a partial prepayment and would transfer the money on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.
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With assistance from Bloomberg
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