Alibaba to List on US Options Exchanges on 29 September

Investors will be able to trade options in Alibaba Group's stock on US options exchanges, two weeks after its highly vaunted public share sale this week on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Chinese e-commerce giant's options will be listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Holdings and International Securities Exchange Holdings' options exchanges on 29 September, pending the company's public share sale on 19 September, the exchanges have said.

The two exchanges have together accounted for nearly 29% of trading in American stock and exchange options this year, according to data from OCC, formerly the Options Clearing Corporation.

CBOE said in a statement that it will list Alibaba options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the C2 Options Exchange, "contingent on [Alibaba] meeting new options listing criteria."

ISE Holdings said in a statement that the ISE and ISE Gemini options markets will list options on Alibaba "contingent on a successful completion of Alibaba Group's initial public offering with shares to begin trading on Friday."

ISE Holdings added that contract specifications will be decided when the new listing is certified by the OCC prior to trading.

Pursued by Reuters, BATS Options exchange, a division of BATS Global Markets, could not be reached for a comment on when they plan to list Alibaba options.

Earlier in the week, Alibaba raised the price range on its imminent New York flotation to between $66 and $68, following strong demand from investors for what could be the world's largest-ever public share sale.

The firm, which handles more e-commerce than Amazon.com and eBay combined, will now raise almost $22bn (£13.5bn, €17bn) at the top of the IPO range.

Alibaba is expected to price the deal on 18 September and will start trading a day later on the NYSE under the symbol "BABA".

The firm will use the proceeds of the IPO to expand its footprint in Europe and the US.

To claim the title of the world's largest IPO, Alibaba's stock sale will have to overtake Agricultural Bank of China's public share sale, which raised $22.1bn in 2010.