Alibaba.com raises $1.5 billion in IPO
Sunday, 28 October 2007
HONG KONG, Oct 27 (AP): Alibaba.com Limited, one of China's fastest-growing technology companies, reached its goal of raising US$1.50 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) Saturday, people close to the deal said.
Alibaba, an e-commerce portal, sold 858.9 million shares, or a 17 per cent stake, at roughly $1.75 each, a source told Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity.
The shares will debut on the Hong Kong stock market on November 6.
The IPO price translates to a multiple of 55 times its forecast 2008 earnings, above the 34 times price-to-earnings ratio of Nasdaq-listed business-to-business search engine Global Sources Ltd., analysts said earlier. But the ratio is much lower than the 83 times price-to-earnings multiple of Chinese-language Internet-search provider Baidu.com Inc.
The IPO has drawn huge interest in Hong Kong, with the retail tranche of 128.83 million shares more than 250 times oversubscribed by Friday, newspaper reports said.
Alibaba, an e-commerce portal, sold 858.9 million shares, or a 17 per cent stake, at roughly $1.75 each, a source told Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity.
The shares will debut on the Hong Kong stock market on November 6.
The IPO price translates to a multiple of 55 times its forecast 2008 earnings, above the 34 times price-to-earnings ratio of Nasdaq-listed business-to-business search engine Global Sources Ltd., analysts said earlier. But the ratio is much lower than the 83 times price-to-earnings multiple of Chinese-language Internet-search provider Baidu.com Inc.
The IPO has drawn huge interest in Hong Kong, with the retail tranche of 128.83 million shares more than 250 times oversubscribed by Friday, newspaper reports said.