Tom.com Ltd, the multimedia group controlled by Asia's richest businessman Li Ka-shing, said yesterday it hopes to raise US$150 million in convertible bonds for general working capital.

"We are doing it now because we believe the market conditions are favourable for us to raise capital in a big size and to lower our overall cost of capital," Chief Executive Sing Wang told reporters in a teleconference call.

The five-year bonds, with a three-year put option bear a 0.5 per cent coupon and yield of 1.25 per cent per year, have been more than three times oversubscribed, said Wang.

The bonds carry a conversion premium of 30 per cent to the share's closing price of HK$2.55 on Wednesday, he said. Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are the joint bookrunners of the deal.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has assigned a BB- rating to the bonds, citing the strong support Tom.com receives from its financial backers as one of the main reasons.

The company, initially hatched as an Internet portal, has diversified into print media, advertising and sports marketing through a spree of acquisitions.

Including a greenshoe of about US$35 million, the issuance is likely to boost tom.com's cash pile to about HK$3 billion from HK$1.7 billion now, Wang said.

Trading in tom.com's shares was suspended ahead of the market opening yesterday.

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