Ali Baba IPO

Alibaba Group went public on Friday and the China-based company has
priced its stock offering range at $68 per share valuing the company
at $170 billion, breaking Wall Street records with the potential to raise
the business at least $22 billion.
The e-commerce giant valued its initial public offering at $68 on
Thursday with plans to sell on New York Stock Exchange using the
ticker BABA. Wall Street will set the trading price according to demand,
so sales may begin at a higher cost and make it tougher for an average
day trader to benefit.
Alibaba is a good long-term investment because its growth is tied with
Chinas rising middle class that use the site for retail purchases.

Timeline of the Alibaba Group's company growth.

Alibaba has become a behemoth of shopping and online payment sites
during its 15-year history, but comparing the company to eBay or
Amazon would be misleading because its model is unique: Its largest
platform, Taobao, allows manufacturers and consumers to buy and sell
anything using its global online marketplace, but unlike Amazon the
company does not ship or own any of the products.
Alibaba matches buyers and sellers on its sites, but vendors using its
sites also pay the company to advertise their wares.
After it goes public, Alibaba is expected to be one of the most valuable
companies in the world. At $68 a share, Alibaba would be worth $168
billion, making it the third-largest Internet company by market value,
behind Google and Facebook.
Alibaba offered 320 million shares in its IPO (123 million new shares
issued by the company plus 197 million existing shares owned by
current shareholders).
Who are the bankers on the deal?
Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase &
Co., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.

Alibaba IPO ranks as world's biggest after additional shares

soldAlibaba IPO ranks as world's biggest after additional
shares sold
Alibaba's initial public offering now ranks as the world's biggest at $25
billion, netting underwriters of the sale a more than $300 million
windfall after the e-commerce giant and some shareholders parted
with additional shares.
The fees are equivalent to 1.2 percent of the total deal, with Alibaba
paying $121.8 million in commissions. Selling shareholders are set to
pay another $178.6 million, according to a filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

Overwhelming demand saw the IPO initially raise $21.8 billion, and
then sent Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's stock rising by 38 percent in its
first appearance on Friday, stock price closed at $93.89 from the
company's offer price of $68 per share on their first day of trading.
That prompted underwriters to exercise an option to sell an additional
48 million shares at the $68 IPO price, which sealed the deal.
Stock price closed at $93.89, BABA shares closed up 1.2% from their
opening price of $92.70.
When BABA stock opened at $92.70, early shareholders had an
immediate return of 36.3% from the offer price.
Shortly after hitting the market at 11:53 a.m., BABA stock hit a high of
$99.25, a 46% jump from the $68 offer price.

Alibaba Passes Facebook in Market Value on First Day

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. surpassed Facebook Inc. by market
capitalization on its first day as a public company right from the minute
it started trading and closed with a valuation of more than $231 billion.

Alibaba surged 38 percent above its initial offering price to close at

$93.89 in New York yesterday. The Chinese e-commerce company,

which began the day with a value of $228.5 billion, now trails only
Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in size among U.S.-traded
technology companies. Facebook passed $200 billion in market value
earlier this month and is worth $201.6 billion as of yesterdays close.