Bankers Promote Hong Kong Listing After Alibaba Success

Inspired by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s BABA recent secondary-listing success in Hong Kong, bankers are telling other U.S.-listed Chinese companies to do the same, according to The Nikkei.

What Happened

Bankers told The Nikkei that they are asking U.S.-listed Chinese companies to list in Hong Kong after Alibaba’s landmark Hong Kong listing success in November.

“We are actively promoting a listing in Hong Kong to a clutch of companies we believe will be well received by Chinese investors," said one of the bankers interviewed by The Nikkei.

“My competitors are also meeting companies and advocating such a move. We hope to get at least two to four companies to begin work for a secondary listing as early as January," added the banker. 

What It Matters

The Chinese ecommerce giant raised $12.9 billion in a landmark listing in Hong Kong in November, the largest share sale in the city in nine years and a world record for a cross-border secondary share sale.

Inspired by that, bankers are pitching Hong Kong listing to other U.S.-listed Chinese companies, especially those with a net worth of around $400 billion and technology firms, such as Baidu Inc BIDU and JD.Com Inc JD, according to The Nikkei.

Amid rising US-China tensions, investors are concerned that the U.S. might finally force Chinese companies to delist. This, plus the attraction of an active local investor base could attract more Chinese companies to list in Hong Kong, according to The Nikkei.

"After Alibaba's listing, interest among Chinese companies listed in New York to tap the Hong Kong market is ... there," said head of investment banking for the Asia-Pacific region at UBS, David Chin to The Nikkei.