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Shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba jumped by more than 7 percent on the first day of its debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning from its offer price of HK$176 ($22.49), marking it the world's largest IPO so far and the largest and the most valuable firm listed in Hong Kong bourse by market capitalization.
Alibaba's shares opened 6.3 percent higher and it rose 7.56 percent as of 10 am, pushing its total market capitalization upward of HK$4 trillion, which also exceeds the HK$3.27 trillion market capitalization of another Chinese tech behemoths Tencent, known as "the king of market capitalization of stock listed in Hong Kong."
Alibaba's mega listing also marks the biggest equity offering in Hong Kong since 2010. It also became the world's largest offering yet this year, followed by $8 billion fundraising by Uber in May.
Alibaba issued 500 million new ordinary shares plus 75 million "greenshoe" options, aiming to raise HK$88 billion in gross proceeds.
"Hong Kong, we're ready, we're coming back [home]," Alibaba's Chairman and chief executive Daniel Zhang Yong said at the listing ceremony in Hong Kong bourse on Tuesday. He refers that five years ago, Alibaba made the promise to come back when conditions are permitted.
"Listing in Hong Kong is a new start point, but it will never be an end point," Zhang responded when asked whether Alibaba will return to A-share market or list in London stock exchange.
Ahead of the listing, Alibaba's share issue was oversubscribed for multiple times. The e-commerce company said on Monday that a total of 215,598 valid applications have been received, marking the new share that has the largest subscription this year.
Charles Li, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), thanked Alibaba to come back prior to the Thanksgiving Day, at a time when "Hong Kong is at its period of extreme difficulty." He also said that one day, investors in the Chinese mainland will also be able to purchase Alibaba's shares through Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect program.
Some observers said that Alibaba's mega listing is a vote of confidence to the financial market of Hong Kong, which has been swept and hit by social unrest for months.
"It also serves as a placate to jolted investors, reaffirming that Hong Kong has a sound financial environment while helping boost HKEX's global position among major stock exchanges," Liu Yun, a scholar at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, told the Global Times.
Liu added that the month-long unrest has affected Hong Kong's position as an international financial hub to some extent, but the foundation of Hong Kong financial market is still stable, with edges in infrastructure and system see no signs of waning.
Global Times