Alibaba unveils Hong Kong secondary listing plan, in vote of confidence that pushes city back to top of global IPO ranking
- Alibaba aims to sell 500 million new shares, with 2.5 per cent set aside for Hong Kong public, according plan in SEC filing
- Asia’s most-valuable company to start a weeklong roadshow this week, with trading debut expected on November 26
Alibaba Group Holding, the record holder of the largest global initial public offering, has unveiled a secondary listing plan in Hong Kong, in a vote of confidence for the local financial market as the worst political crisis in the city’s history threatens its status as a global financial centre.
The e-commerce giant aims to sell 500 million new shares, with 487.5 million set aside for international offering and the rest for Hong Kong public, according to a filing in New York. The plan includes an option to sell an extra 75 million shares subject to demand. Alibaba may raise between US$10 billion and US$15 billion from the sale, after the Hong Kong stock exchange approved its secondary listing, people familiar with the matter said.
The plan will give a major boost for the city gripped by more than five months of anti-government protests and a simmering US-China trade war, pushing the local stock exchange on a home run for global IPO crown this year in competition with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
Alibaba, which raised a record US$25 billion in 2014 in New York, will retain its US listing, the people said, because of its deep capital markets while the group taps into the growing pool of funds in Asia with its latest plan.
The company, whose businesses encompass big data, financial services, e-commerce, cloud computing, is the owner of South China Morning Post.
