Hong Kong style fees for IPO bankers?

Alibaba Group is planning to award about one-third of the fees for its IPO in the form of incentive bonuses to coax better performance from underwriters, people with knowledge of the matter said.

China's largest e-commerce company plans to pay at least 1.1% of the total IPO proceeds in fees, two sources said. Estimates of Alibaba's valuation suggest the company could raise as much as $18 billion in the sale, making the potential fee pool almost $200 million.

While the e-commerce giant is preparing for an IPO in New York, performance incentives are common in Hong Kong and have been used by companies including Agricultural Bank of China.

In US IPOs most of the fees typically go to one or two firms picked to lead a sale, and the breakdown is agreed to ahead of time.