Great Chinese maneuvers on Wall Street. The financial week opens today with the start of the road show of Alibaba, the e-commerce giant made in China, which is preparing to launch the most important IPO in history on the US stock exchanges for an “internet-related” company: at least 24 billion dollars in funding for a market value of 163 billion.
Beyond the financial aspect, the arrival of Jack Ma's creature on the New York list has a historical flavor for at least two reasons:
1) the Hangzhou-based company, leader in mobile e-commerce, aims to repeat the success achieved at home on Western markets, challenging the big USA;
2) Wall Street has accepted a freshman with obscure governance, so complicated that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has preferred to abandon the deal so as not to violate the principle of "one share, one vote".
Two teams of executives of the group, led by the founder Jack Ma, and accompanied by representatives of the banks involved in the placement on the Stock Exchange (Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JpMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup) will in fact begin tomorrow to meet potential securities buyers. The roadshow includes stops in Boston, London, the Middle East, San Francisco and Hong Kong before a final stop in New York.
