On March 26, Alibaba Group officially announced that its logistics subsidiary, Cainiao Network, had formally withdrawn its initial public offering (IPO) and listing application at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On September 26, 2023, Cainiao officially submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first business group to formally enter the IPO process after Alibaba's "1+6+N" strategy. The joint sponsors are Citibank, CITIC Securities, and J.P. Morgan.
Alibaba Group Chairman, Joseph Tsai, stated, "Considering Cainiao's strategic importance to Alibaba and the significant long-term opportunities we see in building a global logistics network, we believe now is the appropriate time for Alibaba to increase its investment in Cainiao."
It's evident that Alibaba's senior management places high importance on logistics. As the core e-commerce business will inevitably maintain long-term contact with logistics, logistics is undoubtedly one of the main focuses within Alibaba in the foreseeable future. In essence, logistics serves as the "infrastructure" of the e-commerce industry.
The voluntary withdrawal of the listing application reflects this significance. The withdrawal is generally seen as a belief that the current valuation and expectations are too low, hence the desire to withdraw and continue increasing investment, which can be seen as benefiting from Alibaba's internal policy adjustments.
Alibaba also promptly announced a share repurchase plan, planning to offer the minority shareholders of Cainiao (including employees) the option to sell all their Cainiao shares to the group at a price of $0.62 per share, involving a total amount of up to $3.75 billion. Shareholders can choose to accept this offer to cash out their shares or continue holding their stake in Cainiao.
