Alibaba IPO: Share price range increase as e-commerce firm nears listing

Alibaba has raised the indicated price range for its shares which will sell on the New York Stock Exchange later this week.

 

The Chinese e-commerce giant had expected to sell around 320.1m shares at a price between $60 and $66 each, yet in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company announced that it had adjusted the price tag to between $66 and $68 per share.

 

The boosted price range follows Alibaba’s investor roadshow which got underway a week ago and has generated strong demand for the shares, with some reports suggesting it has already garnered enough orders to cover its entire IPO.

 

At $68 per share, Alibaba would likely break the record for largest IPO in history by raising $25bn and reaching a valuation of around $168bn, however this would require underwriters pitching the company's offering to exercise overallotment options.

 

The record for largest IPO is currently held by the Agricultural Bank of China who raised $22.1bn on the Shanghai Market in 2010.

 

 

Alibaba shares are expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange this Friday under the ticker BABA.

 

In its most recent quarterly earnings report, the Hangzhou-based firm reported a 46 per cent rise in revenues to 15.77bn yuan and profits of 12.34bn yuan.

 

Alibaba owns a multitude of Chinese websites which it says has 279 million buyers who make 14.5 billion orders per year. Its sites account for 86.1 per cent of total mobile retail in China.