HONG KONG (AP) – Alibaba, the world’s biggest e-commerce company by sales, announced plans yesterday to change the status of its shares traded in Hong Kong, making them more accessible to Chinese investors at a time when Beijing is pressing tech companies to share their wealth with the public.
The primary listing in Hong Kong is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, which would make Alibaba a dual-primary listed company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
CEO Daniel Zhang said Alibaba was pursuing another primary listing venue to foster a “wider and more diversified investor base”.
“Hong Kong and New York are both major global financial centers, with shared characteristics of openness and diversity,” Zhang said in a statement. “Hong Kong is also the launch pad for Alibaba’s globalisation strategy, and we are fully confident in China’s economy and future.”
The move will give millions of mainland Chinese investors access to Alibaba’s shares, as its shares could then be included in the Stock Connect investment channel that allows mainland Chinese investors to buy stocks listed in Hong Kong and vice versa for Hong Kong and overseas investors.
Alibaba’s decision to seek a primary listing in Hong Kong also comes as United States (US) regulators have threatened to delist US-listed Chinese companies unless they follow auditing requirements, which in turn triggered a selloff of Chinese stocks listed in the US.
