Alibaba
- Multiple news reports say Alibaba got the go-ahead to go public for the second time with a Hong Kong listing later this month and could raise as much as $15 billion.
- Reuters said Alibaba would start the process of going public as soon as Thursday, while Bloomberg said that 500 million shares would be listed.
- The Financial Times and the South China Morning Post said that the retail giant plans to start trading on November 25, with the price set on November 20.
- If it does raise $15 billion, it would be the 10th largest IPO on record, with its New York listing of $25 billion the largest to date.
- View Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Alibaba, the Chinese internet retail giant, got the go-ahead to go public for the second time with a Hong Kong listing later this month and could raise up to $15 billion, multiple news reports said.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the retail giant won approval to list in Hong Kong, will confirm the share price on November 20, and go public on November 25. The South China Morning Post, citing sources familiar with the matter, also named the key dates.
Meanwhile, Reuters, citing unnamed sources, said the process of the second launch could start as soon as Thursday and the deal would be "the world's biggest cross-border secondary listing."
Bloomberg said Alibaba will offer about 500 million shares in the listing, raising about $11.7 billion based on the group's closing share price in New York. There may be an option to sell a further 75 million shares in a "greenshoe option."
If the listing, which was delayed in August due to unrest in the city, does raise $15 billion, it would make it the 10th biggest share offering on record, and the largest IPO this year. It's New York offering was the largest IPO at $25 billion, a title it could lose to Saudi Aramco later this year.
Alibaba just smashed its singles day, earning $38.5 billion from its version of Amazon Prime day, crushing last year's $30.8 billion figure.
Earlier this year, billionaire founder Jack Ma stepped down from the top job of the retail giant, handing over to Daniel Zhang. Bloomberg said that by listing in Hong Kong, Alibaba could further Zhang's push to expand in Asia, as well as court favor with Beijing.
