Alibaba soars 122 pct on HK debut
HONG KONG, China (AP) — Chinese e-commerce portal Alibaba.com debuted on the Hong Kong stock market Tuesday, with its shares soaring 122 percent to 30 Hong Kong dollars from its issue price of HK$13.50.
Demand has been heavy for the business-to-business Web site, which raised more than $1.5 billion through its global offering of 858.9 million shares, a 17 percent stake of the company.
The public portion of its offering was 257 times oversubscribed.
Investors have been keen to tap into the booming Chinese technology market. Alibaba.com said its share sale was the biggest technology IPO since Google.
I want to turn the company into a leading e-commerce platform for China, Asia and even the world, Jack Ma, founder of parent company Alibaba Group, said at a forum in Taipei.
Ma disputed that China’s business climate makes it difficult for e-commerce to grow.
People think that there is no mutual trust in China and the Chinese government imposes too many restrictions, Ma said. Yet only when you work harder than others under rough conditions do you have a chance to succeed.
Ma attributed Alibaba Group’s success to good teamwork and clear focus.
I have seen many who are more clever and hardworking than (my team and me), Ma said. But we have a loyal team which has stayed on the same course and not wavered.
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