JD.com raises $1.8bn in New York float

Float priced at $19 per share valuing the company at $25 billion

(BLOOMBERG)

Chinese online retailer JD.com raised almost $1.8 billion from its initial public offering on the Nasdaq late on Wednesday in a strong IPO that bodes well for bigger rival Alibaba's offering soon.

The IPO priced at $19 per American Depositary Share, above the anticipated range of $16 to $18, a level that values the whole of the company at more than $25 billion.

JD.com's shares are expected to start trading on Thursday.

In IPO documents, JD.com said it was "the largest online direct sales company in China in terms of transaction volume in 2013, with a market share in China of 46.5 per cent, according to iResearch."

In the documents, the e-commerce company said it had 47.4 million active customer accounts in 2013 and fulfilled 323.3 million orders last year, when it had $11.5 billion in net revenues and made a net loss of $8 million.