HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – News that Manchester United plans to list 25% to 30% of its shares in a US$1 billion IPO on Singapore’s SGX came as a surprise – HKEx was very much expected to play host to the club, rather than Singapore’s smaller listing venue. A long-standing global focus at the exchange and clever marketing, as well as technical factors, may explain the decision. read
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Supermarket operator Sheng Siong kicked off its domestic Singapore IPO on August 5 through OCBC Bank. The offer price is SGD0.33, translating into a deal size of US$96 million equivalent. Excluding a 15% overallotment option, the IPO comprises 351.5 million shares – representing just over 26% of the company – of which about 57% are for new money, with the balance being sold by the founding family.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – PCCW Ltd.’s hope of spinning off its telecommunications business into Hong Kong’s first listed business trust were shattered when the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong’s listing committee rejected the application. The decision, revealed last week by PCCW, reinforces the SGX’s lock on this type of security, and the temptation for Hong Kong to lure this class of listing away from Singapore must have been intense. But PCCW’s plan raised troubling corporate governance issues.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Fitness First is likely to apply to Singapore’s SGX this month for an eligibility-to-list letter for an IPO, with a launch this July. The business, which has been listed before in the UK, has a wide footprint and boasts impressive statistics, as well as a clear ability to generate cash (2009 EBITDAwas US$238 million equivalent). We look at the group, and at the possible shape the IPO might take.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – The US$1.44 billion IPO and listing in February on the London Stock Exchange of Justice Holdings Ltd. marks something of a revival for special purpose acquisition companies. It raises the question: Why are SPACs yet to make it big in Asia, which last year accounted for more than 54% by volume of IPOs globally? They could do well in Hong Kong in particular.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker)- The report from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) this week couldn’t have come at a more awkward time. Just as Singapore is mounting a challenge to Hong Kong’s dominance in Asian equity capital markets, the regulator has chastised brokers and banks for failing to meet standards as IPO sponsors. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEx) thus finds itself in the spotlight at the same time it needs to defend its market share.
“IPO: A Global Guide” was featured on Bloomberg TV today in an interview I gave to anchor Susan Li in her “First Up” show at 07:40am Hong Kong time.
This is a high-profile segment which, since it takes place early in the morning, is being played out repeatedly throughout the day’s programming. read
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Richard Li appears again to be following in his father’s footsteps. Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, just spun off the container port assets of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. as a business trust on Singapore’s SGX in the world’s largest IPO so far this year. Now PCCW Ltd., in which the younger Li holds a 27.1% stake, is considering a similar listing in Hong Kong for its telecommunications arm, which accounts for about 90% of PCCW’s business.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Last weekend’s simulated trading exercise for yuan securities in Hong Kong, coordinated by the stock exchange, was always a clear signal that the long- awaited launch of the first real estate investment trust to be traded in China’s currency would soon follow. True to form, investor education may be about to kick off for the deal. What has emerged so far shows a few innovations in the offer structure, as well as potentially aggressive pricing.
HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – What a difference a year makes. In 2010, there was a bumper harvest for new equity issues. That’s not so in Asia this year.
