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Alibaba Readies Up to $15 Billion Hong Kong Listing
4:56 am ET November 8, 2019 (Dow Jones) Print
By Stu Woo and Julie Steinberg
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is aiming to raise $10 billion to $15 billion in a second listing in Hong Kong as soon as this month, according to people familiar with the matter, reviving the planned offering even as the city's political climate remains unstable.
The online-retailing giant, which is China's most valuable company by market capitalization, is planning to launch the share sale after its Nov. 11 "Singles Day" shopping festival, the Chinese equivalent of Black Friday. Alibaba expects to seek approval from Hong Kong's stock exchange next week and launch the share sale shortly afterward, the people said.
A listing of $10 billion or more would surpass Uber Technologies Inc. as the biggest stock offering so far this year, although it could quickly be overtaken by oil producer Saudi Aramco's initial public offering.
A successful listing would further bolster the finances of an already soaring company. Hangzhou-headquartered Alibaba, which has a market value of nearly half a trillion dollars, dominates China's online-retail industry and sales are continuing to swell. Last week, it reported quarterly sales of 119 billion yuan (about $17 billion) and a net income of 70.7 billion yuan, beating expectations.
It recently threw itself a lavish 20th-birthday bash at a stadium, which doubled as a retirement party for outgoing executive chairman Jack Ma, and hired pop star Taylor Swift to perform for its coming Singles Day.
Alibaba started Singles Day as a marketing gimmick in 2009. The company sold $30.8 billion worth of goods on Nov. 11 last year and is widely expected to shatter that record on Monday.
The Hong Kong listing would come five years after Alibaba's record-setting initial public offering in New York that raised $25 billion.
The company plans to use most of the proceeds from the Hong Kong share sale to expand its business in the face of increasing competition from fast-growing domestic rivals, according to one of the people. Competitors such as Pinduoduo Inc. and Meituan Dianping are challenging Alibaba in e-commerce, food delivery and other services. Alibaba on Friday said it raised its stake in a delivery-and-logistics company it controls, from 51% to 63%, with an investment of 23.3 billion yuan, or roughly $3.3 billion.
Bankers for the deal have met investors in recent weeks to sound out their interest in the offering, according to some of the people. Two people who were briefed about the upcoming deal said the company was considering selling shares at a single-digit percentage discount to its U.S.-traded stock.
Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares, known technically as American depositary receipts, have gained 36% in 2019, outperforming the S&P 500's 23% rise.
The Wall Street Journal in August reported that Alibaba pushed back its planned Hong Kong listing amid protests that created market instability and political uncertainty in the city. On Friday, the death of a student who had suffered injuries near the scene of a clash between police and protesters sparked fresh anger.
Alibaba's listing would also give Hong Kong's equity capital market a boost. The Hong Kong stock exchange, which in October dropped a nearly $37 billion bid for rival London Stock Exchange, handled $19.9 billion worth of IPO deals this year, according to Dealogic, putting it behind its U.S. peers Nasdaq's $31.2 billion and New York Stock Exchange's $25.68 billion.
Market sentiment has improved after U.S. and Chinese leaders in October took an initial step to cement a trade deal that had previously been derailed. Beijing on Thursday said the U.S. and China had agreed to roll back tariffs as part of a "phase one" trade accord, though there were conflicting reports from within the Trump administration as to whether there was a firm commitment.
Joanne Chiu contributed to this article.
Write to Stu Woo at Stu.Woo@wsj.com and Julie Steinberg at julie.steinberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2019 04:56 ET (09:56 GMT)
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