China’s largest online retail conglomerate Alibaba Group Holdings hired Goldman Sachs Group (GS.NYSE) and Credit Suisse Group (CS.NYSE, CSGN.VTX) to handle its expected Hong Kong IPO, Bloomberg reported, citing sources with knowledge of the deal. However, Alibaba spokesman John Spelich denied that the company made the hirings. The offering could raise US$3-4 billion this year, according to one of the sources. Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. The anticipated offering is likely to attract general investors in addition those in the technology industry, said Thomas Chong, a Bank of China International Holdings analyst. The IPO would follow on the Hangzhou-based company’s buy back of part of a stake held by US internet firm Yahoo! (YHOO.NASDAQ, YHO.FRA) last year, which valued Alibaba at US$35 billion.
China Economic Review