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.
I was, again, solicited by the financial media this morning, to comment on the IPO trading debut of PICC Group’s US$3.09 billion IPO.
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I was interviewed on CNBC’s “The Call” this morning by anchors Bernie Lo and Emily Chan on what’s in store for investors with the IPO in Hong Kong of mainland Chinese insurer PICC Group.
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I was interviewed this morning by anchors Bernie Lo and Emily Chan on CNBC’s programme “The Call” on the IPO trading debut for Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical in Hong Kong.
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I was invited on Bloomberg Television again this morning for a live interview on Astro Malaysia’s IPO debut in Kuala Lumpur – and on Asian IPOs generally – with anchor Rishaad Salamat in the “On The Move Asia” show.
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Hong Kong’s IPO drought continues. According to data from Thomson Reuters, the year to date has seen a respectable 42 new listings on the local bourse. But these offers combined raised only US$5.5 billion.
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Around this time last year I wrote a preview of the IPOs expected to arrive on the Hong Kong market. It’s telling that most of those same deals are still in the pipeline, twisting in some interminable pre-launch marketing limbo.
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An old joke tells of two matrons having lunch at an expensive restaurant. One lady says, “The food is so bad,” and the other says, “Yes, and the portions are so small.” This neatly sums up IPO bankers’ first half: markets are challenging and they are working harder to sell smaller deals for less fee income. Bankers’ complaints about difficult deals are likely to be followed by grumbling that they don’t have enough of them.
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