JD.com shares soar in US IPO, valuing firm at $30.4b

Shares of JD.com Inc, China's second-largest e-commerce company after Alibaba Group Holding, rose by as much as 17.2 percent in their market debut on Thursday, valuing the company at about $30.43 billion.

The company's shares touched a high of $22.26 after opening at $21.75 on the Nasdaq.

JD.com Inc had priced its US IPO above the marketing range to raise $1.78 billion, pointing to strong demand for bigger rival Alibaba Group Holding Inc's upcoming mega float.

Loss-making JD.com, backed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co, made its debut on NASDAQ on Thursday in what is set to be the biggest listing of a Chinese company in the US.

China's No.2 e-commerce company had priced its American Depositary Shares (ADS) at $19.00 each, above the $16 to $18 per ADS indicated range, according to its underwriters.

Investors are watching JD.com Inc, hoping for clues as to how Wall Street will receive its much larger peer.

Alibaba has filed for what some expect could be the largest IPO by a technology company to date.

JD.com, which has forged a close partnership with Alibaba arch-rival Tencent Holdings, will raise $1.31 billion from the sale of 69 million ADS.

It would raise another $1.31 billion by issuing shares to Tencent, JD.com said in a statement. JD.com and Tencent agreed to merge their e-commerce operations in March and as part of that deal, Tencent agreed to subscribe to JD.com shares.

The 10-year-old company, the biggest direct seller of online goods in China, will remain tightly controlled by founder and CEO Richard Liu Qiangdong after the IPO, through special shares that grant him extra voting rights.