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.
腾讯和阿里巴巴的激烈竞争如今已蔓延到投资银行界,这两家统治中国科技市场的巨头都要求银行家为自己而不要为对手服务。
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.
几名知情人士表示,这样的要求实际上已把投资银行分成两个阵营,这凸显出这两家公司在中国几乎每个经济领域的影响力,以及涉及这两家公司的并购交易之丰富。
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.
一名银行家表示,阿里巴巴支付业务的子公司蚂蚁金服要求一些银行签署“限制非常严格的非竞争”协议,协议规定它们不得为腾讯的实体提供服务。蚂蚁金服正接近完成100亿美元的新一轮融资。
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".
另一名知情人士表示,这些科技巨头非常“看重忠诚”,因此不想雇佣那些“将成为竞争对手的服务提供商、会在你为下一笔交易(征求建议)时对你不利的”银行家。
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.
腾讯和阿里巴巴都有大型的企业内银行家团队,其中许多人是从高盛挖来的--两家公司的高管层也有前高盛人士--因此交付给外部银行来做的业务是有限的。IPO的佣金也已大幅降低。
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.
知情人士称,这份协议失效后上述条件就放松了,但其指导原则仍然存在,尤其是在涉及京东的交易时,因为京东在电商领域对阿里巴巴构成了直接竞争。