The WSJ reports,""Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is working on a plan that could make its initial public offering the largest in history".. .
No final decision has been made, but the addition of new Alibaba shares could help push the IPO beyond $20 billion, potentially topping Agricultural Bank of China Ltd record $22.1 billion offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2010, according to Dealogic, which tracks IPO data.
A Chinese company taking the record for a stock sale would be yet another sign of the growing importance to global investors of the world's most-populous country.
Still, the stakes are high for Alibaba as well as Wall Street. The company's market debut will be its unveiling to the world's public-stock investors. Its banks—Credit Suisse Group AG , Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. —also must stage a delicate dance between raising a large sum and ensuring that the sale goes smoothly.
The U.S. IPO market has started the year at its fastest pace since the dot-com era, according to Dealogic. But a recent correction in the price of growth stocks has cast a pall, with some deals—including Chinese Internet firms Weibo Corp. and Leju Holdings Ltd.—pricing below their most optimistic forecasts.
