By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 22nd, 2024
Sources familiar with the matter said that Alibaba’s (BABA) Hong Kong listing has already attracted massive attention and plans to close its books for institutional investors half-day before the scheduled time.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is making swift moves to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. However, amidst high demand, Alibaba has planned to close its books early for institutional investors, reports CNBC.
As per the report, the e-commerce giant plans to close its books by 12 PM ET on Tuesday, November 19. The sources familiar with the matter said that the book’s closure will happen half-day before the earlier schedule. This is clearly indicative of the fact that investors are eager to grab the company shares once they’re available in the secondary market.
One of the sources said:
“The book is well-covered. The international offering received strong feedback.”
However, an official spokesperson from Alibaba has declined to comment on this matter.
Alibaba’s Stock Distribution
The Chinese e-commerce giant is planning to raise around $13.8 billion from the open market. As decided earlier, Alibaba will be issuing 500 million new ordinary BABA shares in addition to 75 million “greenshoe” options. With this, the underwriting banks can sell more shares than the original amount.
Of the 500 million shares issued, a very small percentage i.e. 12.5 million will be available for retail investors. However, Alibaba has the potential to increase the retail offering to 10% of the total shares issued i.e. up to 50 million shares.
Alibaba has previously said that the retail investors will be getting its shares at no more than 188 Hong Kong dollars i.e. 24 USD. But the rest of the shares for the institutional investors are likely to be priced higher than this.
This is certainly not Alibaba’s first IPO listing outside China. Five years back, the Chinese e-commerce giant successfully made its way to the New York Stock Exchange. Since its 2014 IPO, the company has received a massive response from U.S. investors. In fact, this year itself, Alibaba shares are 36% up, as the company continues to give solid quarterly results.
In its previous report, CNBC wrote:
“With a Hong Kong listing, the Hangzhou, China-based firm will move closer to home, potentially giving investors in the world’s second-largest economy more of a chance to buy shares.”
There is no doubt that Alibaba is all set for a massive Hong Kong listing as the company looks to attract more investors from foreign markets.