港交所：錯(cuò)失阿里巴巴上市引發(fā)反思

The head of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said Alibaba’s decision to sell shares on Wall Street compelled a reappraisal of its listing process to avoid missing out on the next wave of fast-growing Chinese companies seeking initial public offerings.

香港交易所(HKEx)負(fù)責(zé)人表示，當(dāng)年阿里巴巴(Alibaba)轉(zhuǎn)赴華爾街上市的決定，促使該交易所重新評估其上市流程，以避免錯(cuò)過下一波尋求首次公開發(fā)行(IPO)的快速增長的中國內(nèi)地企業(yè)。

After months of fierce debate, HKEX will allow companies deemed “innovative” — such as some technology businesses — to list with dual-class share structures from the second half of the year, according to people close to the process.

據(jù)親身了解評估過程的人士介紹，經(jīng)過數(shù)月的激烈辯論，香港交易所將允許被視為“創(chuàng)新”的企業(yè)(如一些科技企業(yè))從今年下半年起以雙層股權(quán)結(jié)構(gòu)上市。

HKEX chief executive Charles Li said that Chinese technology giant Alibaba’s record-breaking $25bn flotation in 2014 on the New York Stock Exchange, where companies can list with structures in which some shares carry more voting rights than others, made HKEX “reckon with this issue”.

港交所行政總裁李小加(Charles Li)表示，中國科技巨擘阿里巴巴2014年在紐約證交所(NYSE)進(jìn)行創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的250億美元上市，使得香港交易所開始思索這個(gè)問題。在紐約，上市公司可采用一些特別的股權(quán)結(jié)構(gòu)，讓某些股票比其他股票擁有更大投票權(quán)。

“That transaction [Alibaba] gave us a huge opportunity to review our structure and allowed us to make a series of decisions that led us here today,” Mr Li told the Financial Times.

“(阿里巴巴)那筆交易給了我們一個(gè)巨大的機(jī)會，讓我們重審自己的結(jié)構(gòu)，并能夠做出一系列的決定，最終得到今天這樣的局面，”李小加對英國《金融時(shí)報(bào)》表示。

Dual-class share structures tend to appeal to technology companies and family-run businesses where the founders want to retain more control. They enable companies to issue shares with different voting rights, rather than the traditional “one share one vote” structure. It can give company founders greater power over the companies even if they hold only a small proportion of shares.

雙層股權(quán)結(jié)構(gòu)往往會吸引那些創(chuàng)始人希望保留更多控制權(quán)的科技公司和家族企業(yè)。它們使公司能夠發(fā)行帶有不同投票權(quán)的股票，而非傳統(tǒng)的“一股一票”結(jié)構(gòu)。這種安排使公司創(chuàng)始人能夠?qū)ζ髽I(yè)保留更大權(quán)力，即使他們只持有一小部分股票。

Market participants, including banks, fund managers and lawyers, are responding to the exchange’s plans. However, a number of global fund managers have already voiced concerns about investors’ diminished voting rights.

銀行、基金經(jīng)理和律師等市場參與者正對港交所的計(jì)劃作出回應(yīng)。然而，多家全球基金管理公司已經(jīng)對投資者的投票權(quán)減少表示擔(dān)憂。

“We are concerned about the implications for good corporate governance in the Hong Kong market and other markets,” said Jenn-Hui Tan, director of corporate finance at Fidelity International.

“我們擔(dān)心此舉在香港乃至其他市場給優(yōu)良公司治理帶來的潛在影響，”富達(dá)國際(Fidelity International)企業(yè)融資總監(jiān)Jenn-Hui Tan表示。

Resistance to companies with dual-class shares has also gained traction in the US. Last July, FTSE Russell decided to exclude Snap after the US social media and technology company sold shares with no voting rights.

與此同時(shí)，美國也出現(xiàn)了抵制雙層股權(quán)公司的勢頭。去年7月，富時(shí)羅素(FTSE Russell)決定將Snap排除在外，因?yàn)檫@家美國社交媒體和科技公司發(fā)售無投票權(quán)的股票。

The plans by HKEX are designed to attract some of the new economy and technology firms planning for blockbuster listings. The Singapore stock exchange is also considering dual-class shares, and could provide an update to the market as early as this week, according to people close to the situation.

香港交易所的計(jì)劃旨在吸引一些計(jì)劃進(jìn)行大規(guī)模上市的新經(jīng)濟(jì)和科技公司。知情人士稱，新加坡證券交易所也在考慮雙層股權(quán)結(jié)構(gòu)的股票，而且最快在本周就向市場介紹最新情況。

New economy companies include fintech and technology stocks, a number of which are fast-growing and are seeking to list in the coming months. Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone maker, this week appointed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to lead its flotation, which could value the group as high as $100bn.

新經(jīng)濟(jì)公司包括金融科技和科技公司，其中一些公司正在快速成長，并尋求在未來幾個(gè)月上市。小米(Xiaomi)本周任命高盛(Goldman Sachs)和摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)牽頭安排其上市，屆時(shí)對這家中國智能手機(jī)制造商的估值可能高達(dá)1000億美元。

“The urgency is China’s development today has finally come to a point of potential breakthrough,” Mr Li said. China is starting to leapfrog the US and Europe in terms of its digital services, because the country does not have long-established and adequate infrastructure in various sectors, he added.

“緊迫之處在于，中國今天的發(fā)展終于到達(dá)了一個(gè)潛在突破點(diǎn)，”李小加表示。他補(bǔ)充稱，中國在數(shù)字服務(wù)方面正開始蛙跳式發(fā)展，一舉超越美國和歐洲，因?yàn)橹袊诙鄠€(gè)行業(yè)不具備發(fā)達(dá)、完善的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。

Mr Li said that when Alibaba was preparing to list, HKEX was not ready as it needed to follow “due process” and consult the market before pushing ahead with allowing for dual share class structures.

李小加表示，當(dāng)阿里巴巴準(zhǔn)備上市的時(shí)候，香港交易所還沒有準(zhǔn)備好，因?yàn)樗枰?ldquo;正當(dāng)程序”，在允許雙層股權(quán)結(jié)構(gòu)之前征求市場意見。

“Obviously we will not allow our market to be marginalised on this most important transformative phenomenon that is likely going to define [the] Chinese economy in the next 20 years.”

“顯然，我們不會允許我們的市場在這輪最重要的、具有變革意義的發(fā)展中被邊緣化，這輪發(fā)展很可能會在未來20年界定中國經(jīng)濟(jì)。”

He added: “If a lack of this system [dual class shares] in Hong Kong has the undesired, unintended, twisted consequence of forcing people to do an offering in a market that is not their natural choice — that actually does not serve them well, which means investors investing in these companies may not necessarily be getting the best result.”

他補(bǔ)充說：“如果香港缺乏這種(雙層股權(quán))制度，結(jié)果迫使人們在某個(gè)并非他們自然選擇的市場上市，那么這種不可取的、并非出于本意的、扭曲的后果實(shí)際上對他們并不好，這進(jìn)而意味著投資于這些公司的投資者可能未必得到最好的結(jié)果。”

Shares in HKEX rose 5.9 per cent on Tuesday and have gained 56 per cent over the past twelve months.

港交所股價(jià)周二上漲5.9%，在過去12個(gè)月累計(jì)上漲56%。