Alibaba eyes $20 billion second listing in Hong Kong

Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group is exploring a potential second listing in Hong Kong that could raise $20 billion as Beijing seeks to encourage its tech titans to list closer to home, a report on Tuesday said. US-listed Alibaba is aiming to file an application in Hong Kong as early as the second half of 2019, Bloomberg News reported, quoting unidentified people with knowledge of the plans.

The listing would be intended to open up new funding channels for Alibaba, whose 2014 listing in New York raised $25 billion in the world’s largest initial public offering. An Alibaba spokesperson declined comment to AFP, saying the company does not respond to “market rumours”. China has sought to encourage its current and future big tech firms to list nearer to home, including via a planned technology board in Shanghai that would be China’s answer to the Nasdaq exchange.