The long-awaited red herring that is Tom Online's prospectus for its Nasdaq and Growth Enterprise Market listings finally arrived this week. No doubt Tom.com shareholders will be eager to find out whether this new deal contains something sweet for them.
If any excitement surrounds the move to spin off the mainland online assets of Li Ka-shing's media conglomerate, the market has so far managed to conceal it.
Never mind any anticipation, Tom.com has not even kept up with the market's recent rally, underperforming the broader Hang Seng Index by 40 per cent in the past 12 months.
One of the reasons for the limp share performance is a widening awareness among investors that what is good for Tom.com and its controlling shareholders is not necessarily good for the small fry. If the managers and directors are changing horses, will Tom.com shareholders be left riding a donkey?
A closer look at the lengthy listing prospectus does little to dispel these fears.
It seems that company insiders will get an extremely generous preferential allocation through the new initial public offering.
Of the approximately one billion new shares to be sold, representing as much as 25 per cent of the firm's share capital, directors will be given preferential access to 210 million. Another 70 million shares will be offered to the senior management and employees at the allocation price.