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$BABA - Alibaba Likely to Raise IPO Price Range, Sources Say

5:32 AM ET 9/15/14 | Dow Jones
By Prudence Ho

HONG KONG--Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is likely to raise the price range of its U.S. initial public offering because of buoyant demand for the deal, people familiar with the situation said Monday.

It wasn't immediately clear what the new price range would be, but Alibaba would likely release the information in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, they said.

Alibaba is seeking as much as US$24 billion in what could be the world's biggest ever IPO. The Chinese e-commerce major started the Asia leg of its roadshow Monday and is currently selling shares to investors in a range of US$60-US$66 apiece.

After Hong Kong, the next stop for Alibaba executives is Singapore, where they will host a lunch event and meetings with smaller groups of investors Tuesday. The roadshow, which began in New York on Sept. 8, is set to end Thursday.

Alibaba and its bankers have decided to close order books Tuesday for some U.S. investors and Wednesday for investors based in Asia and Europe, people familiar with the situation said earlier. However, investors in any country who haven't yet had their scheduled meeting with the company on its global roadshow will still be able to place orders once they have, the people added.

Alibaba plans to set a final price for the shares Thursday, with trading set to begin in New York the following day.

Telis Demos contributed to this article.

Write to Prudence Ho at [e-mail]

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September 15, 2014 05:32 ET (09:32 GMT)

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