Ma ‘ seriously considers’ Hong Kong listing

> Financial hub recently decided to allow dualclass share listings

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will “seriously consider” listing in Hong Kong, founder Jack Ma said, marking a potential boon for the financial hub, which recently decided to move towards allowing dualclass share listings.

Ma made the comments at an event in the city on Monday in response to remarks made by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam about how she hoped Alibaba would consider returning to Hong Kong to list, an Alibaba spokeswoman said.

“Daring to speak like this marks a strong commitment so we will definitely seriously consider the Hong Kong market,” Ma said in response to Lam’s speech, according to a transcript provided by Alibaba. The Alibaba spokeswoman said there were no further details available on what any Hong Kong listing plan could involve.

Alibaba held its record US$25 billion (RM99.7 billion) public float in New York in 2014 after Hong Kong, its favoured venue, refused to accept its governance structure where a selfselecting group of senior managers control the majority of board appointments.

But Hong Kong is now set to allow dual-class shares under rule changes to be proposed by the city’s stock exchange as it raises the stakes in its battle against New York for blockbuster Chinese initial public offerings.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), the city’s exchange operator, said in December that it had begun drafting specific rule changes that will be put up for a formal public consultation in the first three months of 2018.

Under the planned rule changes, “innovative” Chinese companies with a market capitalisation over HK$10 billion (RM5.12 billion) and a primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq or the London Stock Exchange would be able to seek a secondary listing in Hong Kong. The HKEX has not yet defined what “innovative” is. – Reuters