Alibaba calls off HK listing plans

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the largest e-commerce company on the Chinese mainland, said on Thursday that it has abandoned its plans to launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong.

"We've decided not to list in Hong Kong," Jonathan Lu, Alibaba's chief executive officer, said at the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

Lu added that Hong Kong authorities still need time to study and digest the innovative corporate governance structures of knowledge-based companies, such as Alibaba.

Lu's statement is the company's first public reaction on its decision of dropping its IPO plans in Hong Kong.

But despite the announcement that it's ruling out the Hong Kong stock exchange, Alibaba hasn't put an end to the rumors now swirling about its choice of listing venue. Apart from the United States, the latest rumors indicate that the company might be considering launching the IPO in Shanghai.

Lu said the company has not yet decided to list on any other exchange, including the New York Stock Exchange.

A representative at Alibaba added that the company has not yet decided on an IPO timetable.

The company - founded in 1999 by former English teacher Jack Ma - had initially planned to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Joe Tsai, co-founder and executive vice-chairman of Alibaba, posted a blog entry at the end of September saying that Hong Kong was the company's top choice for the IPO.

"As a company with most of our business in China, it was natural for Hong Kong to be our first choice," Tsai wrote.

However, the two sides couldn't reach an agreement on Alibaba's unique shareholding structure - specifically the fact that 28 partners, mainly founders and senior executives, make all the key operating decisions, despite only owning about 13 percent of the company. The Hong Kong stock exchange insisted that all shareholders should be treated equally.

A press release from Alibaba said that it welcomes the debate regarding its corporate governance structure.

"The company has not officially submitted any kind of application and has never asked Hong Kong regulators for dual-class shares," the statement said. "Instead of listening to Alibaba's real needs, we are sorry to find that (the Hong Kong stock exchange) has reached its conclusion based on gossip and non-existing facts. That's why we decided not to list in Hong Kong."

Alibaba's upcoming IPO is a very high-profile deal. Analysts and bankers have estimated the company could raise up to $15 billion, which is expected to be the biggest debut by a technology company globally since Facebook Inc's $16 billion listing last year.

Financial analysts in Hong Kong said that the city's IPO market may go into virtual hibernation after Alibaba dropped its listing plans.

"Alibaba's decision will affect the city's IPO market performance in 2013, as the number and value of deals surely will decline in 2013 compared with 2012, if there is no Alibaba listing," Linus Yip, chief strategist at First Shanghai Securities Co, said in a previous interview.

Other analysts echoed that view.

"I'm not optimistic about the Hong Kong IPO market because fewer business conglomerates have listed or will seek listings in the local IPO market," Kingston Securities Co' director Dickie Wong said.

"I predict the Hong Kong IPO market cannot retain its top-three position in 2013, when it comes to fundraising amounts."

The number of listings in Hong Kong in the first eight months of the year slumped 24.5 percent to 37, with the deals raising HK$44.9 billion ($5.78 billion), almost unchanged year-on-year, according to data from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.

After reigning as the global IPO hub for several years, the city had $7.72 billion worth of deals in 2012, the lowest volume since the 2008 global financial meltdown, according to Reuters data.