Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is set to sell some $22 billion of shares on Thursday, capping a two-week road show that drew frenzied interest from investors worldwide and may be the world’s largest ever initial public offering, reports Reuters.
The shares are expected to be priced after the markets close at 4:00pm Thursday and start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday under the ticker ‘BABA.’
Investors, keen to buy into China’s rapid growth and evolving Internet sector, have been clamouring to get shares since top executives at Alibaba, including co-founder and executive chairman Jack Ma, kicked off the road show last week.
Alibaba, which handles more transactions than Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc combined, boosted the IPO price range to between $66 and $68 a share due to the strong demand.
At the top end of that range, the IPO would raise almost $22 billion, but if underwriters exercise an option to sell more shares, Alibaba’s market debut will top Agricultural Bank of China Ltd’s record $22.1 billion listing in 2010.
‘We believe that the current pricing range of $66-$68 significantly undervalues the long-term growth potential of the company,’ CRT Capital analyst Neil Doshi said in a research note that initiated coverage of the stock with a ‘buy’ rating.
In the 15 years since Ma founded the company in his one-bedroom apartment, Alibaba has come to power four-fifths of all online commerce conducted in China, the world’s second-largest economy.
It has also branched out into areas such as e-payments and financial investment.
Alibaba’s complex governance structure and Ma’s outside investments have raised questions about potential conflicts of interest and investors’ ability to sway Alibaba’s strategy.
-With New Age input
