Alibaba names Hong Kong price

Alibaba has set its Hong Kong initial public offering at HK$176 (US$22.5) per share and is set to raise HK$88 billion in the largest share sale this year.

The Hangzhou-headquartered e-commerce giant plans to use the proceeds to fund the expansion of its online consumer services platforms including food delivery group Ele.me, online travel unit Fliggy and digital media platform Youku.

Following its US$25 billion share sale in New York in 2014, its secondary listing in Hong Kong was made possible after the bourse last year overhauled its listing rules to allow listings of companies with weighted voting rights. 

China Construction Bank chief strategist Zhao Wenli said Alibaba's business models and performances in recent years have been under tight scrutiny from global investors and had been well studied, so he believed its offering would be reasonably priced.  

“When Alibaba Group went public in 2014, we missed out on Hong Kong with regret. Hong Kong is one of the world’s most important financial centers and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the future of Hong Kong,” said Daniel Zhang, Alibaba Group chairman.

Alibaba shares would begin trading on the main board on November 26 under the code "9988." 

The company, founded by Jack Ma and partners in a residential apartment in 1999, said it aims to serve 1 billion Chinese consumers and have more than 10 trillion yuan of consumption on its platform. 

It will also pursue three strategic pillars — globalization, domestic consumption and big data powered by cloud computing.

In the 12 months ended June 30 this year, it had 860 million active users for its online shopping, digital entertainment and payment services, with 130 million international users. 

Beijing Yida Law Firm attorney Dong Yizhi said the Hong Kong listing fits with the trend of bringing tech giants closer to domestic investors and would serve as a benchmark for fellow companies. 

Prime China Securities chief economist Yang Yuchuan said demand was high for Alibaba as a well-established e-commerce firm.