Execution Considerations and Team

Abstract

Often, the listing location will be specified in the RFP and investment banks will provide their overall recommendations using this parameter. There may, however, be circumstances where the issuer and its shareholders have not yet determined where to list the company and will accordingly ask the various houses for their advice on the markets and platforms on which the issuer may seek to obtain a stock exchange quotation. The listing location for Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba gave rise to much speculation as the company sought to preserve the partnership structure that gave the founding minority shareholders the right to effectively veto the appointment of board members. Such a proposal was initially rejected by the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, prompting Alibaba to seek a potential listing on other platforms.¹ At the time of writing, the company’s proposal had been accepted by the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ,² although it was said to still be investigating the possibility of listing in London as an alternative³ — an option purported to have been encouraged at a meeting between Prime Minister David Cameron and Alibaba’s founder and executive Chairman, Jack Ma, in December 2013 — and even that of finally securing a quotation in Hong Kong.⁴