Alibaba pays the price for US IPO as Tencent stock soars on Shanghai-HK link

Hong Kong

ALIBABA Group Holding Ltd spurned Hong Kong for an initial public offering after failing to get the management control it wanted. Now the company is missing out on billions of dollars flowing from mainland Chinese investors.

Hong Kong-listed Tencent Holdings Ltd surged 40 per cent this year through the Wednesday trading break, adding US$54 billion in market value, as an exchange link with Shanghai enables mainland Chinese to invest in the country's biggest instant-messaging services. Shares of Alibaba have slumped 18 per cent in New York. That allowed Tencent to close the gap in overall market value to its narrowest since Alibaba went public.