The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
HANGZHOU, China — Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd fell 3 percent on Friday and were perilously close to breaking below the price set in the largest IPO in history as fears of a China-led global slowdown rattled investors.
A potential move below $68 would make China's largest e-commerce firm the second high-profile tech company to fall below its IPO price this week after Twitter Inc on Thursday dropped below its 2013 IPO price.
It would also be a potential embarrassment to founder Jack Ma and the underwriters who engineered Alibaba's market debut last September.
With Wall Street in correction territory on Friday, Alibaba's stock closed down $2.14 at a post-IPO record low of $68.18.
ADVERTISEMENT
Alibaba shares have been under pressure for weeks as investors fretting about a slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy rush to cut their exposure to China.
Its $25 billion share listing was the largest ever on the New York Stock Exchange and netted underwriters more than $300 million. But Ma, who founded the company in his apartment in 1999, has failed to deliver on Wall Street's lofty expectations.
The underwhelming stock performances from Alibaba and Twitter are being seen as a warning to investors enthralled in the hype surrounding mega-IPOs.
Alibaba last week posted its slowest revenue growth in over three years as its strategy to shift more services to mobile devices hurt advertising sales.
Adding to investor concerns, China last week devalued its currency, guiding the yuan to its lowest point in almost three years.
Alibaba also faces a big lock-up expiration next month when large investors, including Japan's SoftBank, and certain employees will be allowed to sell stock.
Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley acted as joint bookrunners of Alibaba's IPO.
By Noel Randewich; editors: Linda Stern and G Crosse.
In 2020, like many companies, the $50 billion yoga apparel brand created a new department to improve internal diversity and inclusion, and to create a more equitable playing field for minorities. In interviews with BoF, 14 current and former employees said things only got worse.
For fashion’s private market investors, deal-making may provide less-than-ideal returns and raise questions about the long-term value creation opportunities across parts of the fashion industry, reports The State of Fashion 2024.
A blockbuster public listing should clear the way for other brands to try their luck. That, plus LVMH results and what else to watch for in the coming week.
L Catterton, the private-equity firm with close ties to LVMH and Bernard Arnault that’s preparing to take Birkenstock public, has become an investment giant in the consumer-goods space, with stakes in companies selling everything from fashion to pet food to tacos.