Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. might plan to stop its order taking early for its IPO as it received enough investor appetite. Market demand is high on this IPO and it might sell at its higher end of the offering range of $60 to $66 per share. At the moment, orders are still non-binding and the banks will know in a few days if Alibaba can indeed price at the higher end.
Alibaba Group is a Hangzhou-based group involved in the e-commerce business. Founded by billionaire Jack Ma in 1999, the company grew and in 2012, two of Alibaba's portals had around USD 170 billion in sales, more than eBay and Amazon's sales combined. In September 2013, the company was seeking an initial public offering in the United States and after a year of planning, the IPO has now hit the market.
Alibaba also owns and operates several e-commerce platforms such as Taobao Marketplace and TMall.com.
This Chinese e-commerce giant, is still doing global roadshows to meet potential investors. Alibaba is trying to raise as much as USD21.1 billion. Their roadshow which started last September 5 included New York, Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco in the United States and will continue in London, Singapore and Hong Kong.
It is speculated that Alibaba's IPO could surpass 2008 IPO of Visa Inc. which raised USD 19.7 billion. Visa Inc's initial private offering is still the largest one in the United States. Alibaba is currently valuing itself at USD 62.7 billion conservatively. This might also be the largest technology listing in US history.
Final orders of the IPO for US Investors should be in by September 16 at 4pm. Orders in Europe and in Asia on the other hand, should be in by September 17. On September 18, Alibaba will be releasing its final price for its shares. Secondary market trading will resume the next day. The stock will be listed in the NYSE under BABA, which is Chinese pronounciation for "eight eight", a symbol of good luck.
