China's Alibaba plans to launch $15-bn Hong Kong listing by Nov-end

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to launch a Hong Kong share offering to raise $10 billion to $15 billion (£7.8 billion to £11.7 billion) in the final week of November, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The US-listed Chinese e-commerce giant is due to seek approval from Hong Kong's listing committee on Thursday, the people said, for a deal that Dealogic data showed will be the world's biggest-ever cross-border secondary listing.

The people declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alibaba has appointed China International Capital Corp (CICC) and Credit Suisse to work on the deal and is likely to hire several more investment banks as early as next week to push ahead with a listing.

Alibaba holds the record for the world's largest initial public offering with its $25 billion float in New York in 2014.

The company had been working on an August listing in Hong Kong but the transaction was put on hold due to anti-government protests in the city creating financial and political uncertainty.

Alibaba will have an opportunity to show prospective investors its most recent sales figures after Monday's Singles Day, mainland China's largest annual online shopping day.

Sources have said the investment banking syndicate will be put in place after Monday.