Alibaba.com shares surge on parent plans to privatize

An employee walks inside the headquarters office of Alibaba (China) Technology Co. Ltd on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province March 16, 2010.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Alibaba.com Ltd shares rose more than 40 percent to a seven-month high on Wednesday after they resumed trading following an announcement that its parent Alibaba Group will take it private for about $2.5 billion at its IPO price.

Alibaba.com opened at HK$13.18, compared with its IPO price of HK$13.50 and sharply higher than its last closing price of HK$9.25 on February 8.

The opening share price is the highest intraday level since mid-July last year.

Jack Ma's Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group said on Tuesday that it planned to take the Hong Kong-listed unit private, stressing the move was unrelated to any possible deal to buy back shares owned by Yahoo Inc.

Alibaba Group is offering investors HK$13.50 in cash per share, the same price as at the company's IPO in 2007.

(Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Chris Lewis)