Alibaba Group is going ahead with plans for a secondary public offering and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company will sell 500 million new shares, raising around USD 13 billion based on its latest share price.
The company will remain listed on the New York stock exchange as well, with each American depositary share representing eight ordinary shares.
The offering consists of 12.5 million shares for retail investors and 487.5 million for international institutions. The underwriters can increase the retail offer to up to 50 million shares if demand warrants. Alibaba also expects to grant the international underwriters an over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 75 million new shares.
The offer price for the public retail offering will be no more than HKD 188 per share, while the price for the international tranche of the offering may be set higher. Alibaba said it will set the international offer price by 20 November when the subscription period ends, taking into consideration the closing price of the ADS on the NYSE. The retail price will then be the lower of the two amounts, HKD 188 or the international share price.
Alibaba said the listing will bring it closer to investors in its core markets in Asia and create a global market for trading its stock nearly 24 hours a day. It plans to use the proceeds from the offering for the implementation of its strategies of driving user growth and engagement, empowering businesses to facilitate digital transformation and continuing to innovate and invest for the long term.
