China Retail Giant Tender

Chinese online retail titan Alibaba has been given the go-ahead to list shares in Hong Kong reports said on Wednesday in what could be the citys biggest IPO initial public offering in almost a decade. Approval for the sale will also give the citys financial authorities a huge boost as Hong Kong is battered by months of pro-democracy protests that have tarnished its image for security and hammered the Hang Seng Index.Asias biggest company will kick off a week-long roadshow from Wednesday as it looks to garner interest from institutional and retail investors said Hong Kongs South China Morning Post which is owned by Alibaba. It added citing unnamed sources that the share price will be agreed on Nov 20 with trading in the firm expected in the week of Nov 25. However Bloomberg News reported speculation on trading floors that the share sale could be affected by protests that are wracking the city with the Central business district among the areas targeted by demonstrations.Alibaba which is already listed on New Yorks Nasdaq had planned to list in the summer but called it off owing to the citys long-running pro-democracy protests and the China-US trade war. If realised the US15 billion IPO would be the biggest since insurance giant AIA garnered US20.5 billion in 2010. However it is lower than the US20 billion it had aimed to raise initially. The listing also comes after the citys exchange tweaked the rules to allow double listings while Chief Executive Carrie Lam had also been pushing Alibabas billionaire founder Jack Ma to sell shares in the city.A second listing in Hong Kong will also curry favour with Beijing which has sought to encourage its current and future big tech firms to list nearer to home after the loss of companies such as Alibaba and Baidu to WallStreet. Mainland authorities have also stepped up moves to attract such firms including launching a new technology board in Shanghai in July.The Sci-Tech Innovation Board was launched as a battle with the United States for technological supremacy with China President Xi Jinping calling on tech leaders to become global champions while the US has fought back in part by taking steps to clip the wings of Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Alibaba has capitalised on the Chinese consumers love of e-commerce to dominate the sector in China and become one of the worlds most valuable companies.On Monday it said consumers spent US38.3 billion on its platforms during Singles Day the worlds biggest 24-hour shopping event. That was up a quarter from the previous all-time high mark set last year.