Alibaba: Heavyweights Cooperman, Leob, Tepper Interested

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Alibaba’s initial public offering is one of the most highly anticipated offerings this year, and some of the biggest U.S. hedge funds appear to be ready to dive in. CNBC‘s Lawrence Delevingne reports that the Chinese online retailer has captured the attention of Leon Cooperman, Dan Loeb and David Tepper.

Cooperman’s “highly impressed” with Alibaba

In an email to CNBC, Cooperman said they like what they see and are “highly impressed” with Alibaba chief Jack Ma and the rest of the management team. The billionaire investor founded Omega Advisors, which manages $10.4 billion, and he said that he plans to invest in the company after it goes public.

The network also reports that Third Point’s Dan Loeb, Appaloosa Management’s David Tepper and Andor Capital Management’s Dan Benton also showed interest in Alibaba stock. However, they haven’t said whether they plan to actually buy shares after the company goes public.

It should be noted though that Loeb has a history with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Alibaba’s largest investor. At one time, the investor called Alibaba a “hidden jewel” that was the main part of his firm’s investment thesis for Yahoo.

Overwhelming roadshow turnout for Alibaba

About 800 people showed up for Alibaba’s very first roadshow presentation, which was held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan on Monday. Loeb, Tepper and Benton all reportedly attended the event, which hosted 300 more people than were initially expected to attend.

It’s been reported that Alibaba already has enough orders to cover all of its IPO. Those orders reportedly came in within the first two days after its New York and Boston roadshows. That information couldn’t be verified, according to CNBC, although a banker reportedly said that there has been global demand for Alibaba shares. The person was unable to say whether the offering was oversubscribed yet and if so, how much.

The network reports that several hedge funds already own private shares of Alibaba. The Chinese online retailer’s private investors currently include Glade Brook Capital Partners and Tiger Global Management.

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