HONG KONG (Dow Jones Banking Intelligence) – Despite a significant pipeline of deals, at this stage in the year ECM transactions in Asia remain very much characterized by binary outcomes. Large, eye- catching offerings generate significant amounts of investor demand, while less obvious – and perhaps more challenging – transactions (when they close) have posted poor returns for investors. read
League tables feature prominently in presentations drafted by investment banks for their corporate clients, as well as in the financial press. They provide readers with an indication of their market shares and rankings relative to those of other houses, and for a given region, country, industry sector, product – or a combination of the above. read
Readers may have noticed that IPO-book.com now includes a twitter feed for quick IPO and ECM news at the bottom of the home page. read
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Banking Intelligence) – Citigroup Inc.’s sale of its remaining stake in Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) comes as no surprise amid rising markets combined with a pressing need to find extra capital. Other Western firms have already been there in China over the last couple of years. Meanwhile Asian houses are seizing the opportunity to grow, on the back of their Western peers’ renewed asset dumps. read
I am being interviewed by Robert Cookson on the Hong Kong IPO market today on FT.com, the website of the Financial Times. read
Graff Diamonds – which styles itself as maker and retailer of the “most fabulous jewels in the world” – has just filed its application to listing with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. This means that the offer process for its long-awaited IPO should normally start in about 10 to 12 weeks – which should put it on track for a late spring – early summer listing. read
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Banking Intelligence) – Selling shares in renowned branded product companies to Asian investors is one thing. But the IPO of Canadian energy firm Sunshine Oilsands Ltd on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong will break new ground. Sunshine Oilsand’s assets are primarily in North America – 465,000 hectares of oil sands leases in the Athabasca region, in northern Alberta, Canada – with reserves and resources (as of July 1, 2011) totaling 45.4 billion barrels of best estimates petroleum initially in place. read
Equity capital markets reporter Elzio Barreto published yesterday on Reuters an article on the increasing use by ECM bankers in Hong Kong (and elsewhere in Asia) of shadow books and anchor investors, to successfully bring IPOs to market in this improving – but nevertheless still challenging – environment.
Despite its name, Xiwang Special Steel doesn’t really look like too special a deal. The initial public offering, launched to professional investors last Monday, is reportedly being sold in part to friends of the issuer, with fund managers said to be showing polite but muted interest. read
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Banking Intelligence) – Korean brokerage Samsung Securities Co. has now effectively largely shut down its international operations in Hong Kong – at the behest of its parent – following a major expansion just two years ago. At the same time, Japan’s Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. announced deep cuts in their overseas operations, totalling 200 and 300 redundancies respectively. We look at the reasons why – and at what’s in store for Asia’s smaller capital markets players. read
