Neither inflation, a simmering eurozone debt crisis nor the near death of the United States’ AAA rating will keep IPO bankers from their appointed rounds. Hong Kong’s new-listings market in the first half could be generously described as patchy, with most initial public offerings priced in that period trading under water and with 18 deals pulled or otherwise postponed – and markets were in meltdown mode last week. read
Book building and the management roadshow started on August 1 for the proposed IPO of China Shipping Nauticgreen. With a price range of HK$1.56 to HK$2.50 per share, and 600 million new shares offered to investors to fund the purchase of containers, the deal was aiming to raise up to HK$1.5 billion. But as the US markets dropped more than 4 per cent overnight last Thursday, and the Hang Seng Index in turn tumbled almost 1,000 points on Friday morning, the deal was postponed until market conditions improve. read
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – As the amount of yuan held in deposit accounts in Hong Kong (so-called CNH) continues to pile up, China’s offshore financial product offering slowly expands, despite current restrictions on convertibility.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Much criticized at the time of the dot-com boom, the independence of research analysts is again in question as some say they could be compromised through interviews by independent advisers prior to IPO mandates being handed out. But as analysts’ views can on occasion differ from the sometimes rosy picture that ECM and origination bankers paint in their pitches, understanding the research take on a sector – or even on the market generally – can only help restore confidence in new issues.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – In contrast to the lackluster European IPO market, new listings in Asia have continued unabated in the first half of this year. And while some 40 deals have been pulled on account of market volatility, year-to-date volumes are close to those in 2010. Asia has remained largely immune to the macro events affecting the EMEA region. Healthy growth rates have continued to fuel consumption and infrastructure stories, and local exchanges have benefited from innovation and aggressive marketing.
“IPO: A Global Guide” will be one of the key exhibits at the HKU Press booth at this year’s book fair in Hong Kong. read
I was interviewed by Reuters’ Asia Equity Capital Markets correspondent Elzio Barreto for an article published on 18 July on listings by introduction in Hong Kong.
This follows listings there by four companies without issuing shares over the past three weeks, and the article mentions that such transactions are seen as “expensive advertising”.
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Our blog will be taking a summer break until 18 July. Please do catch up with earlier blog posts in the meantime.
I can be contacted through this website while away, and you can also still follow our tweets on Twitter for quick IPO and ECM news and developments.
For those of you that are based in Hong Kong, this is just advance notice that I will be giving a presentation on “The key components of a successful IPO” for the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts (HKSFA) on 20 July 2011. read
I was interviewed last month by FinanceAsia’s Deputy Editor Sameera Anand for an article on the subject of Milan Station’s IPO in Hong Kong. This was published in the June 2011 issue of FinanceAsia Magazine. read
