Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) were trading over 4% lower on Thursday morning.
What Happened: Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank Group Corp (OTC:SFTBY) has reportedly moved to pare almost its entire stake in Alibaba Group, thereby limiting exposure to China.
Also Read: How To Buy Alibaba (BABA) Stock
Softbank has sold about $7.2 billion worth of Alibaba shares this year via prepaid forward contracts, following a record $29 billion selldown last year, reported Financial Times. The forward sales will cut SoftBank's stake in Alibaba to just 3.8%, it added.
With the forward contracts deal, SoftBank usually lends its Alibaba shares to a broker, which sells the stock into the market over a period of days or weeks. The broker charges a fee before returning the proceeds to the group, the report explained.
When the contracts are due, SoftBank has the option to either fully relinquish its claim to the shares or pay the broker the market price to repurchase the stock on its behalf. However, the group has settled previous deals by settling the stock, the report said.
Over the past 14 months, SoftBank received, on average, $92 per share from the forward sales of 389 million Alibaba shares, which is far below the company's all-time high of $317 a share, the Financial Times report said, citing filings supplied by data provider The Washington Service.
Regulatory Overhang: Alibaba stock is also under pressure after a report stated Chinese regulators have proposed rules overseeing AI technology. The Cyberspace Administration of China intends to make companies responsible for the content their AI services generate, according to a draft of the rules, reported The Wall Street Journal.
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