Alibaba boosts stock offering

 

AlibabaChinese online giant Alibaba has boosted the price range for what was already expected to be the biggest stock offering on record, to as much as $US25.03 billion ($A27.08 billion).

Documents filed with US regulators upped the price range for the stock offering to $US66 to $US68 per share, resulting in proceeds which would break the record for stock floatations, set in 2010 by China’s AgBank.

Alibaba would raise between $US24.3 billion and $US25.03 billion based on the new documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The new price range was lifted from $US60 to $US66, filed earlier this month, and comes amid intense interest in the fast growing Chinese online retail group.

Alibaba would have a market value of $US163 to $US168 billion based on the new price range.

The final price could come later this week and the stock could trade as early as Friday, according to some reports.

The initial public offering (IPO) allows investors to get a piece of the huge Chinese market, but it also will fuel Alibaba’s expansion plans.

The company earlier this year announced plans for a US marketplace called 11 Main, which is currently in a test phase.

Alibaba’s consumer services are similar to a mix of those offered by US internet titans eBay, PayPal, and Amazon.com, and it also operates services for wholesalers.

Alibaba Group made a profit of nearly $US2 billion on revenue of $US2.5 billion in the quarter ending June 30, according to its latest filing. Revenue rose 46 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Alibaba decided to list in New York because it wanted an alternative class share structure to give selected minority shareholders extra control over the board; the Hong Kong bourse declined to change its rules to allow this.

AFP

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