Green light for Alibaba's listing to lift confidence in HK's economy

Like Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and ESR Cayman, Alibaba planned to list in the summer but called it off due to the long-running local violent clashes and Sino-US trade tensions that soured market sentiment.

This time, it lowered the fundraising target from the initial $20 billion and forged ahead with a share sale that would be the biggest since insurance giant AIA garnered $20.5 billion back in 2010 and one of the largest floats worldwide this year, dwarfing the IPOs of Uber, Lyft and Pinterest combined.

The e-commerce giant looks to gain momentum from record-high sales on Singles Day, the biggest shopping day on the planet, when its platform sold goods worth $38.4 billion, exceeding last year's record $30.7 billion haul.

Hong Kong lost out to New York in 2014 when Alibaba opted for a mega $25-billion IPO on Wall Street in the world's largest share sale due to the SAR's years-long ban on enterprises with different voting rights for shareholders from going public.

The ban was scrapped in April last year after the Hong Kong stock exchange launched its biggest listing reform in 25 years, a move thought to be aimed at paving the way for companies like Alibaba going public in Hong Kong.

At the time, Alibaba was valued at $168 billion. It's now one of the largest listed mainland companies with a market value exceeding $480 billion, up 175 percent from its IPO price at $68.

"For people away from home, there'll come a day when they'll begin the journey home," HKEX Chief Executive Charles Li Xiaojia said earlier in May, adding that the flotation should "come as no surprise and is only a matter of time".

On Wednesday, the bench mark Hang Seng Index dropped 1.82 percent, or 493.82 points, to finish at 26571.46 points. Alibaba closed its US trading on Wednesday morning flat at $186.97.