Two teams of high-powered Alibaba executives are now aboard roadshow juggernauts that will criss-cross Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America over the next three weeks before the IPO itself takes place on September 15. It is expected that during the roadshow presentations heavy emphasis will be laid on the company's commitment to, and growing expertise in, mobile technology, mobile advertising and mobile payments.

Earlier in the IPO process there was confusion over whether Alibaba would float in China or the US but it has now been revealed that the company has applied for - and been allocated - the ticker symbol BABA and that it will trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The floatation process is now rapidly gathering pace and next Tuesday will see the publication of the price range within which the Alibaba shares will be offered, together with a listing of those extant shareholders who will be selling their stocks. Yesterday Alibaba accountants valued recent restricted share allocations at $59 each. This translates to an overall value of the company of $135.4 billion.

Mobile is driving Alibaba's current surge. In the last quarter 32 per cent of the value of the goods sold across the company's various sites and services came via mobile transactions. In the same quarter in 2013, that figure was 12 per cent. The company also reported that the number of "mobile monthly active users" was 18 million and rising, up 15 per cent year-on-year.