Xiaomi's $1 Billion Loan Draws 29 Banks

By Prudence Ho 

Bankers still feeling the buzz of Alibaba Group's blockbuster listing last month have been casting around for the next big tech deal out of China. If the appetite by creditors to lend to Xiaomi Inc. is anything to go by, this four-year-old smartphone maker could be it.

Xiaomi, which sells more smartphones than even Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. in China, has borrowed $1 billion from 29 banks for a three-year loan, its first move to tap overseas funds for cash. The smartphone maker has moved beyond China to sell in India and Indonesia, and a person familiar with the loan said it is raising the funds from the loan to expand overseas.

The three-year, $1 billion loan is set to close Friday, with Brazil's Banco do Brasil to Japan's Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ among the 29 that have joined Wall Street and Chinese banks as lenders, people familiar with the matter said.

The lead bankers on the loan are Deutsche Bank AG, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, with Credit Suisse Group and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also taking part.

In attracting so many banks to its loan, Xiaomi has beaten Alibaba, which borrowed $8 billion last year from 22 banks, many of whom, bankers said, were eager to get in on the Chinese e-commerce giant's IPO mandate.

Write to Prudence Ho at [e-mail]

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