For Alibaba, picking Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s NYSE would also make it a standout on the Big Board as the third-largest technology company listed there. With an estimated value of about $168 billion, according to a survey of analysts in April, Alibaba would rank behind only International Business Machines Corp. and Oracle Corp. among technology companies listed on the NYSE, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The ticker BABA -- in addition to reflecting the company’s name -- repeats the Chinese word for the number eight, “ba.” Chinese consider the number to be lucky because “ba” sounds like the word for prosperity, “fa.”
Alibaba’s management see the reference to “eight” as auspicious, and would also prefer having the company’s shares begin trading on Aug. 8, after the IPO is priced the night before, people with knowledge of the matter have said. A weak market or other factors that come up during the IPO preparations could slow the deal and push it back until September, the people said.
Nasdaq built its reputation in the 1980s and 1990s as the home of technology companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. Since 2012, it’s battled negative perceptions after Facebook Inc.’s botched IPO led to investor confusion, trading delays and millions of dollars of losses for brokerage firms. NYSE and Nasdaq are currently the only two U.S. exchanges that list companies.
The ticker BABA -- in addition to reflecting the company’s name -- repeats the Chinese word for the number eight, “ba.” Chinese consider the number to be lucky because “ba” sounds like the word for prosperity, “fa.”
Alibaba’s management see the reference to “eight” as auspicious, and would also prefer having the company’s shares begin trading on Aug. 8, after the IPO is priced the night before, people with knowledge of the matter have said. A weak market or other factors that come up during the IPO preparations could slow the deal and push it back until September, the people said.
Nasdaq built its reputation in the 1980s and 1990s as the home of technology companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. Since 2012, it’s battled negative perceptions after Facebook Inc.’s botched IPO led to investor confusion, trading delays and millions of dollars of losses for brokerage firms. NYSE and Nasdaq are currently the only two U.S. exchanges that list companies.
“Alibaba is probably going to be a big offering, so they want somebody that they think can control it better and avoid the headache Facebook had,” Frank Ingarra, head trader at Greenwich, Connecticut-based NorthCoast Asset Management LLC, said by phone.
While Nasdaq, which is the listing venue for Google Inc., Apple Inc., and Alibaba shareholder Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), was once the obvious choice for an Internet upstart, NYSE has been chipping away at its lead. Out of the 10 technology and Internet IPOs that priced during the first quarter in the U.S., seven chose to list on the NYSE, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Besides the reputational gain from winning Alibaba, money is at stake, too, as NYSE and Nasdaq collect fees from their listed companies. A high-profile win such as Alibaba could help lure other companies to a venue.
Source: Bloomberg
