JD.com on Wednesday raised more than expected from its Nasdaq initial public offering in a sign of investor appetite for Chinese ecommerce companies ahead of the much larger listing of Alibaba.
With the deal 15 times subscribed, JD.com priced 93.7m American depositary shares at $19, above the price range of $16 to $18, raising $1.8bn. The Chinese internet company also sold shares in a private placement to Tencent, China’s dominant social networking company.
The IPO values the company at about $26bn and makes founder Richard Liu a billionaire. Selling shareholders, including Mr Liu and Tiger Global Management, will receive about a quarter of the proceeds.