SCOTTISH Mortgage Investment Trust has more than trebled its money two years after becoming an early investor in Alibaba, the Chinese retail giant that has pulled off the biggest ever debut on the American stock markets.
Alibaba raised an impressive $21.8 billion (£13.4bn) by selling shares on the New York Stock Exchange at $68 each.
There was such demand for Alibaba stock that it took more than two hours before the market could accept the first trades, which sent the shares bouncing above $92.
Alibaba's IPO caps a prosperous two years of investment from Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, which took part in the Chinese firm's first fundraising round when the stock was worth an equivalent of $18.50.
The investment trust, part of Baillie Gifford and managed by James Anderson and Tom Slater, has long been bullish on the prospects of Chinese businesses.
Its stake in Alibaba was worth £115m at yesterday's launch price of $68, more than treble the initial investment. At $92 a share, the holding would be worth nearly five times the initial investment.
However, the £3bn trust has got no immediate plans to crystallise its profits.
"We think it's a fabulously attractive asset. We are not selling any shares and we have been buying for clients who don't currently hold it," said Mr Slater yesterday. As a transition from private to public company takes quite a long time, we're not really interested in what the paper profits are."
The managers have said they are particularly impressed with Alibaba's 50 per cent sales growth rate and its ability to expand into financial services through its Alipay subsidiary, which has been attempted without the same success by a string of Western retailers.
Yesterday's sale gave Alibaba an initial value of $168bn, making it more valuable than Amazon, its closest American rival, and more than five times bigger than Tesco, Britain's largest retailer.
The IPO also represents a windfall for American internet giant Yahoo, which sold some of its 22 per cent stake in Alibaba in the stock market float.
The US company still owns more than 400m shares, worth about $27bn at yesterday's launch price, having paid $1bn to invest in the firm back in 2005.
Alibaba was founded 15 years ago by Jack Ma, who left his job teaching English in Hangzhou in eastern China to try his hand at online business.
The firm acts as a sales platform for everything from toys to trainers to tractors, and is responsible for about 80 per cent of all online transactions in China.
The company's shares are issued through a subsidiary in the Cayman Islands to comply with Chinese rules on foreign ownership. It had originally planned to list its shares in Hong Kong, but switched to New York to avoid regulatory hurdles.
Alibaba can now claim to have pulled off the biggest IPO in American history, breaking the record set by Visa's $19.6bn debut in 2008.
The sale raised more than $8.2bn for the company after fees for underwriters, and about $13bn for major shareholders
If the underwriters use their option to sell extra shares, Alibaba would be the world's biggest ever IPO. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust shares gained 2.3 per cent to close at 239.7p in London.
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