Alibaba.com Ltd. (PINK:ALBIY) (HKG:1688) hired Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) (CSGN) and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) (GS) to handle its IPO arrangement, which was officially announced in December last year, reported Bloomberg today.
Accredited as the biggest e-commerce company in China, Alibaba has been preparing for its initial public offering since December 2012, after having bought half of its stake from Yahoo! Inc. earlier in the same year.
The IPO is anticipated to raise about $3 billion – $4 billion in Hong Kong this year, marking the offering as the largest Internet IPO since Facebook Inc.
“We have not hired any banks in connection with any IPOs,” John Spelich, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for Alibaba. Spelich, however, refused to comment on the company’s sale plan.
Although no official confirmation has been provided by the company, experts say if the move is true, this public offering is going to mark as the second most historic IPO ever announced.
“They would be not only attracting investors from the technology sector, but also more general investors”, said Thomas Chong, working with the Bank of China International Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong and an expert on the matter.
Alibaba.com Ltd. (PINK:ALBIY) (HKG:1688) yesterday announced its billionaire founder, Jack Ma’s decision to step down as chief executive officer, following an organizational restructuring.
“Alibaba is the IPO that everyone is anticipating because it is the dominant e-commerce giant,” said Chong in a statement.
Commenting on investors current interest in technology stock, Edward Au, a partner in Deloitte China’s public offering group said “Market sentiment has been picking up since November.”
Alibaba.com Ltd. (PINK:ALBIY) (HKG:1688) delisted its Hong Kong unit, paying HK $18.3B to repurchase the 27% stake held by minority investors last year.
