China's Alibaba plans HK IPO for $1 bln-report

(For expanded IPO diary, please click on <HK/IPOMENU>)

HONG KONG, June 18 (Reuters) - Alibaba.com, China's biggest e-commerce company, will raise up to US$1 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering this year, spurning the U.S. markets, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.

Alibaba, which has long been rumoured as an IPO candidate, has chosen Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) to handle the deal, the newspaper said, adding that it will avoid a New York listing because of a tighter regulatory environment in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals.

Many Chinese companies, and those from other parts of Asia, have been less inclined to list in the United States because of Sarbanes-Oxley legislation that holds top executives personally accountable for corporate misdeeds, rules that also increase legal and compliance costs.

But many mainland technology firms still favour listing on the Nasdaq, as there is a large pool of mostly West Coast investors with a long history of trading and understanding high-tech companies.

((Reporting by Brian Kelleher, editing by Anne Marie Roantree; brian.kelleher@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: brian.kelleher.reuters.com@reuters.net; +852 2843-6532)) Keywords: ALIBABA IPO/REPORT

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