By Julie Zhu
HONG KONG, July 15 (Reuters) - A senior Goldman Sachsbanker has highlighted to colleagues the role played by rivalMorgan Stanley in failed Hong Kong IPOs following thecollapse on Friday of Budweiser APAC's $9.8 billion initialpublic offering, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
On Friday AB InBev called off the Hong Kong listingof its Asia Pacific brewing business, that was being managed byMorgan Stanley and JPMorgan, citing several factors,including prevailing market conditions. A further 11 banks werelisted as global coordinators and bookrunners but Goldman had norole on the deal.
In the internal email sent as the deal was faltering onFriday, the Goldman banker told colleagues they needed to callclients "as soon as possible" to reassure them that a collapseddeal did not mean markets were closed.
"MS is the only bank to have played a lead role on the twolargest postponed HK IPOs in past decade," said the email, sentto investment bankers in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan. “GS hassuccessfully led 26 jumbo Hong Kong IPOs above US$1bn as Sponsorsince 2010, more than any other bank on the Street (MS 19, JPM15)," the email said.
Aside from the AB InBev deal, the Goldman banker's email wasreferring to the collapse of the $4.5 billion sought byChinese-U.S. pork producer WH Group in April 2014.
That IPO was pulled as investors balked at the valuation thecompany sought, although Goldman itself was a sponsor on thatdeal along with Morgan Stanley and five other banks.
Three months later WH Group successfully raised $2.1 billionin an IPO led solely by Morgan Stanley and Bank of ChinaInternational.
Goldman did not get a role in the relaunched deal eventhough the bank was an investor in the pork producer, holding5.2% of the shares through its private equity unit.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Banks fight fiercely for deals and league table credit inequity capital raising, with fees from the business making upabout a quarter of the global investment banking fee pool, onaverage.
Worldwide, Goldman, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan typicallytake the top 3 spots, according to Refinitiv data. In Asia,their fortunes fluctuate more, but Goldman and Morgan Stanleyranked first and second in the table for the past two years.(Reporting by Julie Zhu in Hong Kong; Writing by JenniferHughes. Editing by Jane Merriman)