May 23 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA )

will possibly sell convertible bonds to raise about $5 billion

as early as this week, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing

sources familiar with the matter.

The Chinese e-commerce giant's Hong Kong-listed shares fell

as much as 6.6% following the report, which follows a $1.75

billion offering by rival JD.com ( JD ) earlier this week.

Alibaba ( BABA ) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for

comment on the report.