All quiet on the Eastern front
There seems to be no end in sight for the Asian ECM bout of depression. Above all, it’s been a pretty miserable year so far for IPOs, in sharp contrast to new listings activity in other parts of the world. read
Tag: Japan
Crouching tiger vs. Hidden Dragon?
As Hong Kong’s financial marketplace becomes increasingly reliant on the Chinese mainland for its IPOs, Singapore’s big opportunity perhaps lies with international issuers – and those from Southeast Asia in particular. read
HK investors give foreign issuers cold shoulder
Fast Retailing, the Japanese owner of fashion brands Uniqlo, Theory, Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam, listed depository receipts in Hong Kong on March 5. read
PICC deal shows Japan on the POWL
Amid particularly tense Sino-Japanese relations, the US$3.1 billion IPO of mainland insurer PICC Group is all the more remarkable in that it included a rare tranche, solely targeted at Japanese investors. read
Stock repurchases not the best way to use capital
The past few weeks have seen widespread announcements of share buy-backs, as companies, often with net cash balances, take advantage of a depressed market to pick up cheap stock.
Baroque Japan should put IPO plans on ice
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.
Lost in translation? A close look at Japanese POWLs
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Public offerings without listing (POWLs) have for a decade been used to channel Japanese retail financial assets – about half of which are held in the form of cash in bank or post office deposits – towards international primary equity offerings. But do POWLs as they stand really add value to new issues? read
Listing in an increasingly polarized world
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – It’s been an eventful week in the otherwise cozy world of stock exchanges. But to what extent will the latest round of M&A benefit ECM bankers who underwrite stock offerings for their clients?
SGX bets on innovation to catch up
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX), dwarfed by a number of its Asian rivals, is sparing no efforts to compete on a regional stage. But its introduction of remote trading is likely to have only a marginal impact.
Why multiple share listings?
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Logically, there’s reason to offer around-the-clock trading on securities: Investors can trade from their home turf some of their large holdings. But Vale S.A.’s Hong Kong listing shows the value of such an option is questionable in practice.