Alibaba is considering raising as much as $20 billion through a listing in Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, lining up a second blockbuster deal following its 2014 record $25 billion float in New York. The deal, the biggest follow-on share sale in seven years globally, would give Alibaba a war chest to keep investing in technology – a priority for China as growth flags and as the world’s second-largest economy is locked in a mounting trade spat with the United States. The e-commerce giant is working with financial advisers on the offering and is aiming to file an application confidentially in Hong Kong as early as the second half of 2019, three people said on condition of anonymity as the plans are not public yet.
