Time zones are annoying... So Alibaba's conquering them all. The closest thing to Amazon in China, the ecommerce icon chose the New York Stock Exchange for its record-setting $25B IPO in 2014 (still the biggest IPO ever). And according to Bloomberg, it might issue shares for the first time — again — in Hong Kong.
The more, the merrier... Here's what Alibaba can gain through another public offering
- A fundraise: Alibaba would create new shares to sell to Hong Kong investors in return for $20B in fresh cash. That'll be invested in expanding to become the Amazon of everywhere-outside-the-US.
- More potential investors: Asian investors can buy Alibaba's American-listed shares, but it can expect more local demand if they were listed in Hong Kong, too.
- A trade war insurance policy: If US-China trade tension worsens, Alibaba would be vulnerable if all its stock were linked only to New York.
It's an all-eggs-in-one-basket situation... Alibaba is already the largest ecommerce company (it gets about 2/3 of online retail in China) in the largest consumer market (the 1.5B people there is about 6x the US). This homeward-bound Hong Kong move gives protection from the politics Alibaba can't control.
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