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現在阿里巴巴希望下個月能夠進軍紐約股票市場，那將會是有史以來最大規模的首次公開股票發行之一。分析者預測這次股票發行在規模上將達到200億美元，同時會使公司市價超過1500億美元。阿里巴巴剛剛更新它的招股說明書，把美國的證劵交易委員會登記在案，并且更改了六月份它的估價1170億元，改為七月份的1300億元左右。
阿里巴巴這個技術巨頭在把美國的證券交易委員會登記在案的過程中采取了額外兩個步驟，這樣的做法激起了人們的爭論，但是對經常這樣做的公司來說就不會令人驚奇。可能是受到了美國改革者們的刺激，阿里巴巴試圖解釋為何讓支付寶這樣一個重要的網上支付平臺下線，導致2011年那個時候不同意下撤支付寶平臺的阿里巴巴的一個大股東雅虎公司大發雷霆。阿里巴巴不斷地宣稱其無從選擇因為有來自中央銀行即將實行的改革措施，看起來好像是中央銀行在懲罰支付寶因為它沒有完全本土化。公司治理的擁護者將不會受到壓制。
他們不會為給馬云的公司和其24個合伙公司更緊的控制這樣的新措施而高興。這種所謂的合伙關系使其合伙公司有權任命阿里巴巴公司的九位董事中的四位。人們希望日本軟銀公司（擁有巨大資金的投資公司）任命阿里巴巴公司的第五位董事，而其余的四位董事將獨立產生。現在馬云行事非常謹慎。在改變招股說明書的過程中，他非常清楚地指出其合伙人有權增加兩個董事會成員，即將九位董事會成員增加到十一位，而額外的兩個董事會成員將由控制合作伙伴任命。
最后總結，阿里巴巴比任何時候都要大，而馬云仍然不肯認錯并且對阿里巴巴有完全的控制權。不管阿里巴巴首次募股的這艘火箭是一飛沖天還是不幸墜落，這件事將會在很長時間讓人難以忘記。當心！
JACK MA wanted to list Alibaba on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The founder and chairman of China’s biggest internet firm had hoped that local authorities would accept his demand that a small clique around him would maintain control of the business after flotation. But officials in Hong Kong refused to allow such a share structure, and so Alibaba headed to America, wher the founders of technology firms like Google commonly use dual-share structures to ensure they stay in charge.
Alibaba is now expected to float on the New York stock exchange next month in what may be one of the biggest initial public offerings ever. Analysts speculate that the offering, which may approach $20 billion in size, could value the firm at well over $150 billion. The firm itself has just updated the prospectus it filed with America’s Securities and Exchange Commission, and has revised its own estimate of its valuation from $117 billion in June to some $130 billion now.
The technology giant took two other steps in the revised SEC filing. These have provoked controversy, but come as no surprise to old lags. Perhaps prodded by American regulators, Alibaba has tried to explain why it spun out Alipay, a vital online-payments division, in 2011. Yahoo, a big shareholder that did not approve the move, was outraged at the time. Alibaba repeats its claims that it had no choice given that pending regulations from China’s central bank looked as though they might penalise Alipay for not being wholly domestic. Advocates of corporate governance will not be impressed.
Nor will they be pleased by new measures that give even tighter control of the firm to Mr Ma and some two dozen associates. This so-called partnership already had the right to nominate four of Alibaba's nine directors. SoftBank, a Japanese investment company with a big stake, was expected to nominate a fifth friendly director; and the remaining four others were to be independent. Now, Mr Ma is taking no chances. In the revised filing, he makes clear that his partners have the right to expand the board by two members from nine to 11—and that these two additional directors are to be named by the controlling partnership.
To sum up, Alibaba is bigger than ever and Mr Ma remains unapologetic and in complete control. Whether it skyrockets or fails miserably, Alibaba’s IPO certainly looks to be the most memorable in ages. Hold on to your hats.
