Alibaba reveals share sale details

Chinese ecommerce company Alibaba has revealed details of its proposed share sale, which will take place in the US by the end of the year.

In a new filing, the company stated that it was seeking to raise a total of $1 billion (£589 million) as a result of the initial public offering (IPO), but this figure will also have to cover the cost of a wide range of fees involved in the share sale.

Some analysts have predicted that the IPO is going to be one of the largest in recent years, with the money raised by Alibaba predicted to surpass the amount racked up by the Facebook share sale, which took place in 2012.

Revenues

Alibaba reported revenues of 40.5 billion yuan (£3.8 billion) in its latest financial results, which covered the nine months to the end of December 2013. During this period, the firm stated that it made a net profit of $2.9 billion.

The company is one of the world's leading ecommerce businesses and an IPO has been on the cards for some time, but the new filing indicates that the date shares in Alibaba will finally go on sale appears to be coming closer.

Alibaba says that it is responsible for 72 per cent of all mobile commerce in China and with the Asian having a rapidly expanding middle class, this is likely to be a rich area of growth for the business in the coming years.

Speaking to the BBC, Roger Entner, lead analyst and founder of Recon Analytics, said: "If it is able to transport that kind of power to outside China, it has the potential to become a true global ecommerce powerhouse."

Once the IPO has been completed and shares in Alibaba are up for sale on a US index, the firm will be putting itself in line with competitors – such as Amazon – which have been able to dominate the global ecommerce market since the explosion of the internet.

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