Shares of Chinese tech titan Alibaba jumped around 8 percent in the first morning of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the world’s largest listing of the year so far.
On Tuesday, Alibaba issued 500 million new ordinary shares and an additional 75 million shares for over-allotment option or “greenshoe.” The company set the offering price at HKD$176 (nearly $22.5) per share, but the stock hit HKD$189.50 after the opening bell. Despite falling slightly back later in the day, Alibaba shares closed 6.5 percent higher than the issue price.
Also on rt.com Don't believe the hype: Hong Kong says it's business as usual for banks & stock exchange despite protestsThe tech giant’s secondary listing raised more than $11 billion in Hong Kong’s biggest listing since 2010 and is seen as a huge boost for the city amid violent protests which have already plunged the major Asian financial hub into recession.
The share sale is also the world’s largest offering of the year so far, but the much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi oil giant, Saudi Aramco, can eclipse it. The energy major’s IPO at a local stock exchange is scheduled for next month and could raise as much as $20-$40 billion.
Also on rt.com Alibaba Singles Day sales smash another recordAlibaba currently holds the world’s largest IPO record after it raised $25 billion at the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. The tech firm had initially considered going public at home, but opted for the US listing due toHong Kong’s regulatory rules.
“As a result of the continuous innovation and changes to the Hong Kong capital market, we are able to realize what we regretfully missed out on five years ago. Today, we realized what we said then: ‘When conditions allow, we will come back to Hong Kong,’” Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said in a statement.
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