Alibaba’s executive chairman Jack Ma emphasised his company’s global ambitions as he pitched one of the world’s largest ever stock sales to hundreds of fund managers gathered in Hong Kong.
Speaking to a packed ballroom in the Ritz-Carlton hotel yesterday, Mr Ma urged investors to see Alibaba as a technology company first and foremost, according to people in attendance, one that just “happens to be in China”.
He pointed to the growth of the business outside its home market, such as in Russia, where it has risen to become the number one ecommerce site by monthly users.
Mr Ma’s sales presentation came amid further speculation that the Chinese ecommerce company was set to increase the price range of its New York initial public offering.
Any increase would bring Alibaba a step closer to becoming the largest stock market listing in history.
The company’s bankers were yesterday discussing the possibility of raising the price range for the share sale above its initial upper limit of $66 per share, according to people familiar with the situation.
Any upward move on pricing would increase the likelihood that Alibaba outstrips the current IPO record holder Agricultural Bank of China, which raised $22bn from its Hong Kong listing in 2010.
Even without any change Alibaba should still surpass Visa and Facebook as the largest US listing in history.
Based on the midpoint of the current price range, the company will raise about $21bn, although a possible overallotment, the so-called greenshoe, would take the proposed deal size to $24.3bn.
Alibaba had originally sought a Hong Kong IPO, but failed to find a management structure that would meet the city’s listing rules.
Speaking to reporters ahead yesterday’s investor lunch, Mr Ma said that he respected Hong Kong’s decision not to bend the rules in order to win the Alibaba float.
Though there are some lingering concerns among investors about Alibaba’s corporate structure, the roadshow appears to have been generally well received so far.
One hedge fund manager who watched Mr Ma’s pitch in Hong Kong described it as a “good presentation” from a “great sales person”.
Bankers running the IPO have already decided to close the order books early, having received strong interest from investors.

Alibaba is in the final few days of investor meetings ahead of its long-awaited trading debut this week. The company began meeting fund managers in New York last week, before taking in Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

在投资者对中国电商公司阿里巴巴(Alibaba)展现了浓厚的兴趣之后，阿里巴巴大幅上调了它计划本周五在纽约首次公开发行(IPO)的股票价格区间。
阿里巴巴将把股票价格区间从每股60-66美元上调至66-68美元。这家中国电商上周在路演开始时曾把纽约IPO的股票价格区间定为每股60-66美元。
此前，阿里巴巴董事局主席马云(Jack Ma)强调了他的公司的全球雄心。他向汇聚香港的数百基金经理推介了世界上有史以来规模最大的IPO之一。
据出席者透露，马云昨日在香港丽思卡尔顿酒店座无虚席的舞厅发表讲话，敦促投资者首先把阿里巴巴视为一家科技公司，一家“碰巧位于中国”的科技公司。
他指出阿里巴巴在境外市场的增长，如在俄罗斯，它已成为按月度用户人数计算的头号电子商务网站。
阿里巴巴最初寻求在香港上市，但未能找到能够满足香港上市规则的管理架构。
马云在昨日的投资者午餐会前对记者们表示，他尊重香港有关当局不为争取阿里巴巴的上市业务而改变规则的决定。
虽然部分投资者对阿里巴巴的企业结构抱有挥之不去的担忧，但路演似乎迄今反响良好。
一位对冲基金经理看了马云在香港的推介演讲后，将其形容为由一位“伟大的销售员”进行的“出色陈述”。
面对投资者的强烈兴趣，操办这场IPO的银行家们决定提前结束新股认购。
阿里巴巴的投资者会晤阶段已进入最后几天，各方期待已久的该公司股票上市交易将在本周开始。该公司上周在纽约开始会晤基金经理，随后在波士顿、洛杉矶和旧金山举行类似会议。
昨日在香港设午宴招待大约500名投资者之后，路演将移师新加坡和伦敦，最后在周四的最终定价前夕回到美国。
代码为$BABA的阿里巴巴股票将在本周五正式挂牌交易。

译文仅供参考