Alibaba's IPO intentions
IPO intentions NOT publicly verified
See Jul. 17, 2007 (China Knowledge) – Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce firm, has chosen investment bank, NM Rothschild, as their advisor for its IPO listing, expecting to raise as much as US$1 billion, The Daily Telegraph reported.
resources.alibaba.com
...According to the newspaper, the chairman of Alibaba, Jack Ma, is understood to have enlisted Rothschild as the company's financial advisor for the forthcoming share sale scheduled to take place later this year. The Alibaba IPO is a huge deal for both Rothchild's Asian advisory business and Alibaba's stakeholders—Ma and Yahoo! In 2005, Yahoo! purchased a 40% stake in the Chinese online portal for about US$1 billion. Earlier reports stated that Goldman Sachs<GS> and Morgan Stanley<MS> have been hired as underwriters for the Alibaba share sale, which hitherto only includes the internet company's business-to-business unit. Though its IPO intentions have not been publicly verified, Alibaba has been anticipated to float its shares on the Hong Kong bourse, after taking a New York listing into consideration. It is still unknown whether London is considered or not.The share sale is set to be the largest ever IPO by a Chinese internet company and could possibly peg the worth of Alibaba's business arm at US$4 billion. Hangzhou-based Alibaba runs three online marketplaces—English-language trader portal Alibaba International, Chinese-language domestic site for business trade Alibaba China and consumer trading site TaoBao, each catering to its niche market.Rothschild is a leading international bank with over 200 years of banking expertise, employing over 2000 people in 40 offices around the world....
July 23, 2007: Sharks fins land Alibaba.com in hot soup
zdnetasia.com
ends with:
...For Yahoo, the campaign against Alibaba (widely rumored to be readying an initial public offering for later this year) by the world's shark activists is the latest in a string of China-related public relations challenges.
Last year, at a congressional hearing on the role played by U.S. companies in censoring the Internet in China, Representative Tom Lantos condemned Yahoo and others for their "abhorrent" willingness to cooperate with the Chinese government. In May, Shi Tao, a journalist currently imprisoned in China.--thanks in part to Yahoo's cooperation with local police--sued the company in the United States.
The headaches have not just been about free-speech issues. A Chinese court in April ruled against Yahoo China (owned by Alibaba) in a lawsuit brought by IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, alleging that the company facilitated digital music piracy. Alibaba is appealing.
The likely Alibaba IPO should provide some welcome good news from China for new Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who was instrumental in negotiating the acquisition of the Alibaba stake in 2005. Probably the last thing Yang wants for Yahoo is another black mark against China....
Alibaba operates five e-commerce sub-companies: Alibaba.com, Alisoft, Yahoo! China, Taobao, and Alipay
en.wikipedia.org
Aug 2005: Yahoo Buys Stake in Alibaba
wired.com
Alibaba : see first section, Internrt
china.seekingalpha.com
...Alibaba announced its opening of a branch in Chongqing, a move that the company said indicates how important Southwest China is to them. Statistics from Alibaba show that for every 100 industrial enterprises engaging Alibaba’s e-commerce platform, about 11 are from Chongqing....
May see some other items re Alibaba in SeekingAlpha's China section:
china.seekingalpha.com |
