HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Japanese fashion retailer Baroque Japan Ltd. is eyeing an IPO of up to US$300 million in Hong Kong, through CLSA and UBS. It may perhaps be better advised to wait until its international store network becomes wider, and the brand more mature.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – China Shipping Nauticgreen Holdings Company Limited (CSN) has just started bookbuilding for a proposed IPO of up to US$192 million in Hong Kong, led by Deutsche Bank and China Merchants Securities. Pricing is set for August 10. Less volatile than that of shipping lines, the business is expected to grow, thanks in part to a substantial newbuild ship overcapacity over the next couple of years which should drive freight prices down. With a likely single digit P/E, valuation is reasonable too – a welcome change from some recent Hong Kong offerings.
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
