Investing.com - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd (NYSE:BABA) is postponing its plans to issue secondary offering in Hong Kong amid the ongoing political unrest in the city, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing two unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.
Reuters said no new timetable has been formally set, but the company could launch the deal when political tension eases and market conditions become favorable again.
The source further noted that the decision to delay the listing plan was taken at a board meeting last week.
The company appeared to be close to raising as much as $20 billion through a secondary offering in Hong Kong earlier this year, with multiple media suggesting an application could come as early as the second half of 2019.
But mass protests in Hong Kong that saw tear gas being fired by police forces and more than 700 people being arrested sent Hong Kong’s stock market plunging.
"It would be very unwise to launch the deal now or anytime soon," the first person said. "It would certainly annoy Beijing by offering Hong Kong such a big gift given what's going on in the city," the source added.
Alibaba first went public in New York in 2014 in the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history when it raised US$21.8 billion