Yesterday, the executive team of Alibaba Group, a mainland e-commerce giant, held a seminar with Hong Kong media. The group's CEO, Lu Zhaoxi, said that they would not consider listing in Hong Kong for the time being, nor did they have any plans to communicate with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Both parties could only return to the negotiating table when the timing was right.
Lu Zhaoxi pointed out that the main reason for not considering listing in Hong Kong for the time being was the insufficient understanding of Hong Kong towards innovative governance structures, which needed time to digest the partner system. It would be possible to consider restarting the Hong Kong listing plan when the timing was right and both parties had calmed down.
The latest reports from foreign media revealed that Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld also made comments on Alibaba's initial public offering (IPO) yesterday. "We respect Alibaba, and it would obviously be our honor if it could list on the Nasdaq market. If Alibaba chooses to list in the United States, our task is to let it know the advantages of choosing Nasdaq." However, he refused to disclose whether he had already met with Alibaba's senior management. Earlier this week, Hong Kong media reported that Alibaba also showed interest in extending an olive branch to the London Stock Exchange.
From the information disclosed by Lu Zhaoxi to Hong Kong media yesterday, Alibaba has not yet decided to switch to listing in the United States or the United Kingdom. Zeng Ming, the Chief Strategist of Alibaba Group, mentioned that although he met with the Mayor of London earlier in Hong Kong, he emphasized that it was just a courtesy meeting and did not comment on whether there had been contact with the London Stock Exchange.
Zeng Ming pointed out that Hong Kong is still the preferred choice for listing. He admitted that there were issues of insufficient communication between both parties, including underestimating the complexity of communicating with the Securities and Futures Commission, and failing to clearly explain their contributions to Hong Kong during the early stages of negotiations. He expressed regret over not being able to list in Hong Kong, especially for the founder Jack Ma, who was passionate and hopeful about listing in Hong Kong. Last year, Jack Ma had indicated that after delisting the B2B company from the Hong Kong stock market, he would return to Hong Kong to give back to Hong Kong investors.
Wang Shuai, the Chief Marketing Officer of Alibaba Group, stated that in 2012 alone, the group privately raised $17 billion, which was higher than most global IPOs. Therefore, financing was not an urgent issue. He emphasized that they were not in a rush to go public and did not have a specific IPO timeline. They would only choose to list at the appropriate time and location.