Alibaba prices Hong Kong retail investors' offer at up to $188 per share

Up to 575 million shares is up for grabs.

Alibaba Group Holding will launch up to 575 million new shares in its upcoming Hong Kong initial public offering, pricing its retail public offer shares at $188 apiece, the company announced. The offer price for the international offering tranche may be set higher than the maximum retail public offer price, with Alibaba setting the international offer price by 20 November.

Taking into account the maximum retail share offering, the company seeks to raise more than $115.15b.

It will offer 500 million new ordinary shares, with 12.5 million new shares under the public retail offering and 487.5 million new shares are for global subscriptions. In case of oversubscriptions, Alibaba has the option to expand its public retail offering to a maximum of 50 million shares. They may also choose to add up to 75 million new shares for its global offering.

Alibaba plans to use the proceeds for initiatives to drive user growth, digital expansion plans, and long-term investments.

The company added that its American depositary shares, each representing eight ordinary shares of the company, will continue to be listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Upon listing in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong-listed shares will be fully fungible with the ADSs listed on the NYSE, the release added.