Posted on May 21, 2014 in Press
At a time when investors are still nursing wounds from the massive sell-off in young technology stocks, Chinese online retailer JD.com Inc. is readying a big initial public offering.
The IPO marks a test for the lead investment bankers on the deal, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS: in the current adverse environment, can they attract investors to a fast-growing but unprofitable online retailer?
JD.com runs China’s largest online direct sales business, according to a regulatory filing. Like U.S.-based Amazon.com. The company buys goods from manufacturers and distributors, stocks these products in warehouses and offers them for purchase via its website.
“In the US, the vertical retail model at this moment seems to have won over marketplaces—Amazon captured it,” Triton’s Mr. Wallace said. It’s unclear, though, whether that’s because “the model is intrinsically better, or is it because [Amazon CEO] Jeff Bezos out-executed all of the others?” he added.
Read full article at wsj.com
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