Alibaba is “95 per cent certain” to choose New York over Hong Kong for its initial public offering, expected to be one of the largest in history, according to people close to the process.
The company is no longer “even engaged” with the Hong Kong exchange, according to one person familiar with the matter, while another said a New York listing was now “95 per cent certain”. A third person familiar with the situation said: “I can categorically tell you that Alibaba will not list in Hong Kong."
Alibaba, China’s largest ecommerce company, had initially planned to list in Hong Kong, but fell foul of the city’s listing rules due to its proposal to control appointments to its board.