PROTESTS FORCE ALIBABA TO CALL OFF EVENT FOR HK SHARE SALE
China deploys PLA to help ‘clean up’ city streets
Alibaba Group Holding called off plans for an investor luncheon in Hong Kong amid intensifying protests in the city, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The e-commerce company is conducting investor meetings by phone rather than in person for its planned new share sale, citing logistics and safety concerns, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
Months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have closed the city’s airport at least twice, while its transit system is increasingly facing disrupted service. Citigroup Inc., one of the underwriters on Alibaba’s offering, warned staff to steer clear of dangerous places after one of its bankers was arrested in the financial district this week.
Companies that go public in Hong Kong typically arrange a luncheon with institutional investors on the day bookbuilding commences.
A representative for Alibaba declined to comment on the roadshow schedule.
Alibaba’s planned offering size hasn’t changed as a result of the protests, Michael Yao, the company’s head of corporate finance, said on a conference call with investors earlier this week.
The company priced the retail portion of its Hong Kong share sale at HK$188 each, an auspicious number in Chinese culture. Alibaba said it may price the remainder of its 500 millionshare offering above that ceiling, signaling that it aims to raise at least $12 billion, the biggest first-time share sale in Hong Kong this year.
Alibaba aims to price the institutional tranche of the offering November 20, according to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg. China International Capital and Credit Suisse Group are sponsors for the deal.
China on Saturday deployed its troops in Hong Kong for the first time since the unprecedented pro-democracy protests began in the former British colony more than five months ago over a proposed extradition law, with soldiers in plain clothes clearing the roadblocks.
Soldiers from the Hong Kong Garrison of People's Liberation Army (PLA) — the world's largest military — have been deployed for the first time in more than five months of civil unrest in Hong Kong, as dozens marched from their Kowloon garrison to help clear roadblocks, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
It was also the first time in over a year that the PLA local garrison has been involved in the public community work.
The soldiers, mostly in green T-shirts and black shorts, and carrying red buckets, ran out of the PLA'S Kowloon Tong barracks at about 4 PM to clear obstacles on Renfrew Road, near Baptist University's campus, the report said.
A soldier said their action had nothing to do with the Hong Kong government. “We initiated this! Stopping violence and ending chaos is our responsibility,” he said, quoting a phrase coined by President Xi Jinping. Firefighters and police officers also joined the soldiers.