Alibaba announced pricing of shares for its upcoming secondary listing in Hong Kong in which it could raise up to $13.8 billion. The Chinese e-commerce giant will issue 500 million new ordinary shares plus 75 million "greenshoe" options. These give the underwriting banks the ability to sell more shares than the original amount set. Of those 500 million shares, 12.5 million will be reserved for retail investors. Alibaba has the option to increase the portion available for retail investors to 50 million shares or 10% of the total offering. The company said those retail shares will be priced at no more than 188 Hong Kong dollars (about $24.01). However, the remaining shares for institution investors, could be priced higher than that.

The Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. headquarters stand illuminated at night ahead of the annual November 11 Singles' Day online shopping event in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

At 188 Hong Kong dollars a share, the total amount raised will be around $13.8 billion if the greenshoe option is exercised. Alibaba will set the final offer price by Nov. 20 Hong Kong time "by taking into consideration, among other factors, the closing price of the ADSs on the NYSE on or before the last trading date and investor demand during the marketing process." ADS refers to the company's U.S. listed American Depositary Shares. Alibaba's Hong Kong shares are expected to begin trading on Nov. 26.