It’s normal with Hong Kong IPOs to see an army of people working behind the screens. Sure, too many cooks can spoil the broth, and having that many people on board can mean that juicy morsels of information can easily fall into the hands of ravenous journalists waiting to land a scoop about a big-name issuer.
One such issuer recently decided he was having none of that, a senior ECM buddy told me. If the IPO was going ahead, it was happening his way, or not happening at all. And boy, did he find a way to keep an aura of mystery around his deal.
So intent was he on not letting slip even a scrap of news get out to the media that he even kept his bookrunners out of the loop. When scheduling a series of meetings in a city, he booked three different venues to throw the dogs off the scent.
If that seems overboard to you, then there were more precautions to come. The issuer didn’t even tell his bankers the final venue, instead sending taxis to pick them up and drop them at the destination.
Now that’s what I call keeping a secret. Whoever said money doesn’t buy you happiness was probably right. But it certainly buys you enough power to keep some mystery in your life.