What it takes to be an Asian ECM powerhouse

Last week, news that Deutsche Bank would fold its global equities business and terminate almost 20,000 of its employees came as a shock for market observers. read

Christmas safari

Here comes December again. For armies of investment bankers (well, at least those unlucky enough not to be on a guaranteed package, for whom the guessing game has long been over), this is the long-awaited, immutable sign that bonus season is just around the corner.  read

From the Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom

As the US$100bn-plus IPO of Saudi Aramco nears its launch, the UK’s Telegraph has most recently hinted at a three-way foreign listing, conducted across London, New York and Hong Kong. I look at the practicalities and advantages (as well as disadvantages) for the oil behemoth of listing in Asia. read

HK IPO sponsors could escape the prospectus noose

As Hong Kong IPOs start to make a timid comeback after a long summer lull, I unearthed an interesting working paper entitled “IPO sponsors and prospectus liability: the bridge too far?”, published in August by the Asian Institute of International Financial Law (AIIFL) of the University of Hong Kong. read

CICC’s IPO: Swan song or new beginning?

China-based investment bank China International Capital Corporation (CICC) filed the application for its proposed IPO on the stock exchange of Hong Kong on 22 July. That should put it on track for a hearing by the Listing Committee around the last week of August. But while CICC is the country’s oldest investment bank and has an impeccable pedigree, it has fallen behind new players who have been quicker to adapt to a changing marketplace, and will likely be priced at a conservative valuation. read

2013 global IPO review

According to database company Dealogic, global IPO volume in 2013 totaled US$173.3 billion via 934 deals, up 39% on 2012 (US$124.3 billion, 821 deals) and represented the highest volume since 2010 (US$281.4 billion).
read

Hutchison’s proposed sale of assets not a new idea

The last few days have seen much written about the proposed sale of Park n Shop by Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa. But the idea of selling off one of its lower margin businesses is not new: I had already flagged this in a January 2011 column, published in Dow Jones Investment Banker and on WSJ.com, the website of the Wall Street Journal. read

First quarter Asia-Pacific ECM statistics

Asia-Pacific ex-Japan equity capital markets volume totaled US$50.7 billion through 406 deals in the fist quarter of 2013, down 1% as compared with the previous quarter, but up 16% on the first quarter of 2012 (US$43.7 billion). read

More puff, less huff for flotations in 2013

Like an endangered species clinging on to the last remnants of its natural habitat, the Hong Kong initial public offering was scantly seen in 2012. The euro-zone sovereign debt crisis rumbled through the markets for most of the year, putting paid to many issuers’ plans.

read

Report on cross-border IPOs

I participated, alongside 14 other professionals, in a study for an in-depth report from PwC and Baker & McKenzie (coordinated by consultancy Meridian West) on cross-border IPO trends. read