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 The shares are expected to be priced after the markets close at 4
p.m. 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 clamoring 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.
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The company decided to list its shares in New York after Hong Kong
stock exchange officials rejected its request to allow a small group
of company insiders to nominate the majority of the board. Hong Kong
Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, which operates the exchange, has a
policy against companies having multiple classes of shares with
different voting rights, but is now considering loosening those
rules.
The IPO caps a lengthy listing process that saw Alibaba take the
rare step of not appointing a single bank to take charge of the IPO
process. Instead, it tapped all its major bookrunners for advice,
and divided tasks among them.
Alibaba plans to expand its business in the United States and Europe
after the deal. But in the United States at least, it is not widely
known: an Ipsos poll found that 88 percent of Americans had not
heard of the company.
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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