Alibaba is set to raise up to 13.4 billion U.S. dollars in a secondary listing in Hong Kong in what would be the world's biggest attempt to raise equity capital to date this year.

The shares are due to start trading on November 26. The retail price of the shares will be capped at 188 Hong Kong dollars (about 24 U.S. dollars) each. The share sale is set to be Hong Kong's largest in more than nine years after insurance giant AIA garnered 20.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.

In a first for the Asian financial hub, Alibaba said the listing would be fully automated and paperless to reflect its environmental standards.

Investment bankers familiar with the listing, however, said the move avoided a potential publicity nightmare of investors queuing at banks to place stock orders while increasingly violent protests grip the city.

"Over the last few years, there have been many encouraging reforms in Hong Kong's capital market. During this time of ongoing change, we continue to believe that the future of Hong Kong remains bright," Daniel Zhang, Alibaba's chief executive officer, wrote in a statement.

Alibaba had originally considered a Hong Kong IPO in 2013, but ultimately chose New York after failing to gain approval from Hong Kong regulators for its unusual governance structure.

The institutional price will be finalized on November 20 following a book build which is underway for global investors.

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In the retail component, 12.5 million shares will be offered, which is 2.5 percent of the total deal. However, that could be increased to up to 50 million, or 10 percent of the total transaction.

Alibaba also has the option to exercise an over-allotment option to add an extra 75 million shares to the deal.

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(With input from Reuters)