Simpson Thacher, Freshfields Advise on Alibaba's $13B Hong Kong Listing
The New York-listed Chinese tech giant's secondary listing in Hong Kong would be the largest listing globally so far this year.
November 14, 2019 at 02:04 AM
3 minute read
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have landed the lead roles on Chinese technology giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Hong Kong listing.
The New York-listed company's secondary listing in Hong Kong could raise about $13 billion, according to media reports, making it the largest listing globally so far this year. Alibaba already holds the crown for the world's largest listing ever for its $25 billion float on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014, though Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco's initial public offering on its domestic exchange next month is expected to be even bigger.
According to a prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday night, Alibaba will use the majority of the proceeds to expand its range of digital products and services; invest in cloud computing technologies, supply chain management and sales and marketing systems; and develop new technologies. The Hong Kong bourse has approved the listing application and trading is expected to start on November 26.
Simpson Thacher Hong Kong partners Christopher Wong and Daniel Fertig are advising Alibaba. The Wall Street firm also advised Alibaba on its U.S. IPO, led by Fertig, former Palo Alto partner William Hinman and former Hong Kong partner Leiming Chen. Chen left Simpson Thacher in 2016 after a decade with the firm, to join Alibaba affiliate and online finance giant Ant Financial Services Group as general counsel.
Fangda Partners is serving as Chinese counsel to Alibaba, led by partners Jeffrey Ding in Beijing and Leo Lou and Doris Tang in Shanghai. Fangda also advised Alibaba on Chinese law for its U.S. listing.
Freshfields partners Teresa Ko and Calvin Lai in Hong Kong and Jason Xu in Beijing are advising the joint sponsors, which include CICC and Credit Suisse. The Magic Circle firm was originally mandated to advise Alibaba on its 2014 IPO when it was preparing to list in Hong Kong, but Simpson Thacher replaced Freshfields as the company chose to list in New York. Alibaba's general counsel, Timothy Steinert, is a former Freshfields partner.
King & Wood Mallesons Beijing partners Yang Xiaolei and Jiang Zhihui are advising the banks on Chinese law. The firm also served as Chinese counsel to the underwriters on the U.S. IPO.
Alibaba's Hong Kong listing was originally planned for August but the company postponed it due to poor market conditions and the anti-government protests that have shaken the Asian financial hub since June. While the protests are still ongoing, several large companies have listed in Hong Kong in recent months, including Belgian beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev's Asia business, Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC Ltd., which raised $5 billion in September; and ESR Cayman Ltd., a logistics real estate developer backed by Warburg Pincus, which listed at the beginning of this month and raised $1.6 billion.
Alibaba is finally allowed to list in Hong Kong after the city's stock exchange changed its listing rules last year to accept secondary listings of companies already listed overseas. One of the other major listing rule changes is allowing weighted voting-rights structures, which was related to a sticking point for Alibaba when it wanted to list in Hong Kong in 2014.
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