MUMBAI: Alibaba Pictures Group, the film unit of the Chinese e-commerce giant, is selling up to $1.6 billion (HK$12.18 billion) in shares to raise capital.

The money raised will be used to fund potential acquisitions in the media industry in the future and also as general working capital. However, the company, which is looking at expanding in the Chinese film market, has not yet identified any specific acquisition targets.

In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Alibaba Pictures said that it would place 4.2 billion shares at HK$2.90 each, which is a 20 per cent discount to the stock’s last traded price of HK$3.62 at Monday’s close, and about 13 per cent below the average closing price over the prior five sessions.

The placement represent approximately 19.96 per cent of the total existing issued share capital of the company and approximately 16.64 per cent of the total issued share capital of the company as enlarged by the allotment and issue of the placing shares.