Alibaba looks set to pull off another coup. If the stars align — and with rocky markets, that is far from a given — the China tech giant that executed the world’s biggest flotation will notch up another marquee deal with its planned secondary listing in Hong Kong.
The genius with this deal is that it plays to a host of constituents. The $25bn New York listing in 2014 rewarded investors (shares are up roughly 2.5 times), investment bankers (a $250m fee pool) and founders. But it left the spurned Hong Kong stock exchange miffed and Beijing chafing at its best and brightest going west.
This time, the bounty will spread much further. Beijing gets one of its stars back closer to home turf; Hong Kong’s exchange snags a mega-deal; and investors stand to gain again if the move delivers a valuation fillip on the more generously priced Hong Kong stock exchange.