选边站! 阿里巴巴和腾讯要求投行只能支持自己!
Tencent and Alibaba's fierce rivalry has extended into the world of investment banking, with China's dominant tech duo demanding that bankers working for them avoid doing so for their rival. The requirements have in effect split investment banks into two camps, said several people with knowledge of the matter, highlighting the companies' clout in virtually every sphere of China's economy as well as their prolific dealmaking. Ant Financial, the Alibaba payments affiliate that is closing a $10 billion funding round, made a number of banks sign "very restrictive non-compete" agreements preventing them from working for Tencent entities, said one banker. Another person familiar with the matter said the tech titans "value loyalty" and so did not want to hire bankers who were "going to be a service provider to competitors that will work against you when you do (a request for proposal) for the next deal". Tencent and Alibaba have large teams of in-house bankers, many plucked from Goldman Sachs -- whose alumni also furnish the top management -- which restricts the business meted out to external banks. Fees on initial public offerings have also dropped sharply. The conditions were relaxed when the agreement lapsed but the guidelines have persisted, especially when it comes to JD.com transactions because of its direct competition in ecommerce with Alibaba, the person said. |