Alibaba’s initial public offering

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (“Alibaba Group”) (NYSE:BABA) started trading on the 19th of September on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). On the 18th, Alibaba announced the pricing of its initial public offering (IPO) of 320,106,100 American depositary shares (“ADSs”), each representing one of its ordinary shares, at a price to the public of US$68 per ADS for a total offering size of approximately US$21.77 billion, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs. The ADSs began trading under the symbol “BABA.” Alibaba Group is offering 123,076,931 ADSs, and the selling shareholders are offering 197,029,169 ADSs.
In addition, Alibaba Group and certain of the selling shareholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 48,015,900 ADSs.
On the 22nd, Alibaba announced that the underwriters of its previously announced initial public offering have exercised in full the option to purchase an additional 48,015,900 ADSs from Alibaba Group and certain selling shareholders.
Alibaba Group and the selling shareholders raised a total of approximately US$25.03 billion in gross proceeds from the initial public offering, after the underwriters’ exercise in full of the option to purchase additional ADSs.
Alibaba’s IPO was a success by any measure. At $25 billion, it was the largest in history. The shares soared 38 percent on their debut, the biggest first-day jump for an IPO of at least $10 billion.
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are serving as joint book runners for the offering.
Alibaba was founded in 1999 by 18 people led by Jack Ma, a former English teacher from Hangzhou, China. The founders started the company to champion small businesses, in the belief that the Internet would level the playing field by enabling small enterprises to leverage innovation and technology to grow and compete more effectively in the domestic and global economies. They operate leading online and mobile marketplaces in retail and wholesale trade, as well as cloud computing and other services.
Source: http://www.alibabagroup.com/en/news/article?news=p140918; http://www.alibabagroup.com/en/news/article?news=p140922; http://www.alibabagroup.com/en/about/overview