Alibaba's $13 Billion Hong Kong Share Sale Oversubscribed
November 19 2019 - 7:13PM
Dow Jones News
By Serena Ng
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. stopped collecting orders early for
its roughly $13 billion Hong Kong stock sale due to strong investor
demand for its shares, according to people familiar with the
matter.
The Chinese e-commerce giant closed the books on the
institutional portion of the sale at noon EST on Tuesday instead of
4 p.m. during the New York day, the people said. Institutional
investors in Asia could submit orders for the offering until 4 p.m.
Hong Kong time Tuesday, while investors in Europe could do so until
4 p.m. London time.
Alibaba last week kicked off one of the largest share sales
globally this year ahead of a secondary listing in Hong Kong on
Nov. 26. The offering is already multiple times subscribed, the
people said. A small part of the Hong Kong share sale has been set
aside for individual investors, and the final proportion will
depend on the volume of orders received. The deal is expected to
price Wednesday.
The company earlier said it expected to determine the price of
the Hong Kong shares on or around Nov. 20, based on the closing
price of its New York-listed American depositary shares on Tuesday.
Last week banks underwriting the deal estimated it could be worth
about $11.7 billion in total. That could increase to more than $13
billion if they exercise an option to buy more shares after trading
begins. Investors have been guided to expect a price of HK$176
(US$22.49) a share, a person familiar with the matter said.
That represents a small discount to the price of Alibaba's
existing stock, as is the market convention for follow-on stock
offerings. Alibaba's U.S. shares closed slightly higher at $185.25
on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, giving the company a
market capitalization of about $482 billion. Each ADS effectively
represents eight of Alibaba's Hong Kong shares.
Alibaba's listing plans have moved ahead despite a week of
violent confrontations between police and antigovernment protesters
in the semiautonomous city. The Hangzhou-based company first went
public in New York in 2014 after raising $25 billion in what
remains the world's largest initial public offering.
China International Capital Corp., the Chinese investment bank
known as CICC, and Credit Suisse Group AG are the most senior
financial advisers on the deal, a role known in Hong Kong as joint
sponsors. They are working alongside Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase
& Co. and Morgan Stanley as joint global coordinators and joint
bookrunners.
Write to Serena Ng at serena.ng@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 19, 2019 18:58 ET (23:58 GMT)
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