Nasdaq Still Pursuing Alibaba

Although it has been widely speculated that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is leaning towards selecting the New York Stock Exchange, sources tell Fox Business that Alibaba has yet to make an exchange decision for its upcoming IPO.

Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld spoke with Maria Bartiromo on FOX Business Thursday, saying “of course we are” still pursuing Alibaba. “We have talked to them as you’d expect that we would. Certainly I think our value proposition is very strong," he said.

Both exchanges are competing vigorously for the coveted Alibaba listing. It may surpass Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) $16 billion IPO and become the largest technology IPO ever.

There have been 64 U.S. IPOs so far this year, the most seen in the first quarter since the year 2000, according to Dealogic. Forty-two companies have listed with the Nasdaq, while 22 have chosen the New York Stock Exchange. “We haven’t had that level of performance for a very long time,” Greifeld said.

Yet despite Nasdaq’s lead in the number of listings, NYSE leads in volume. NYSE IPOs have raised $7.7 billion year-to-date, whereas Nasdaq IPOs have raised $3.5 billion.

Although Nasdaq has a reputation for being the technology leader, NYSE has taken the majority of technology listings this year. Still, Nasdaq has benefited from the biotech boom, with 32 healthcare-related companies choosing to list on the exchange this quarter.

Looking beyond the listings business, Greifeld told FOX Business “each and every one of our businesses become more competitive as the quarters go on.” Nasdaq also works on market technology and has a corporate solutions business. “We had a record fourth quarter,” he said.

This Thursday was “analyst day” at the Nasdaq and the company announced that it’s raising its quarterly dividend by 15%. Nasdaq shares closed at $37 and have risen 15% in the past year.

Going forward, Greifeld predicted, “we will certainly have a growth rate that will exceed that of the general economy."