Alibaba picks NYSE as venue for largest IPO
Alibaba, which filed for the IPO in May, is looking to sell about a 12% stake, people familiar with the matter have said
New York: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, said a person with knowledge of the matter.
The decision is a blow to the Nasdaq Stock Market which was competing to become the venue for what could be the largest-ever IPO in the US Alibaba plans to name the exchange as soon as on Thursday, in an updated IPO filing, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.
For Alibaba, picking the NYSE would also make it a standout on the Big Board, making it the third-largest technology company listed there. With an estimated value of about $168 billion, according to a survey of analysts in April, Alibaba would rank behind only International Business Machines Corp. and Oracle Corp. among technology companies listed on the NYSE, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Representatives for the two exchanges declined to comment, while an Alibaba spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached.
Alibaba, which filed for the IPO in May, is looking to sell about a 12% stake, people familiar with the matter have said. Estimates of Alibaba’s valuation suggest it could raise as much as $20 billion.
The decision highlights Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.’s struggles to attract the largest technology debuts. NYSE hosted 22 of the 37 US technology and Internet IPOs in 2013, headlined by Twitter Inc.’s offering, and has already won Candy Crush-make King Digital Entertainment PLC’s listing this year.
Nasdaq has been battling negative perceptions since Facebook Inc.’s botched IPO led to investor confusion, trading delays and millions of dollars of losses for brokerage firms. NYSE and Nasdaq are currently the only two US exchanges that list companies. BLOOMBERG
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