The reason for the season: ECM Christmas musings

Forget about reindeer with shiny noses, fir trees and shopping mall carols. For those in the finance industry, the end of the year takes an altogether different meaning. read

Hong Kong IPOs: between a rock an a hard place

2014 so far as been a bit of a bumper year for IPOs in Hong Kong, despite the well-publicized loss of Alibaba’s landmark listing to the New York Stock Exchange. According to Dealogic, no fewer than 78 of these have taken place on HKEx year-to-date, for a combined amount of US$17.1 billion equivalent. That’s more than twice the volume of IPOs achieved in the first nine months of 2013, when 43 deals had successfully made it to closing. read

Chinese investment banks on the rise

I gave a video interview to Asia banking reporter Enda Curran from the Wall Street Journal. read

In the emergency room

The recent overhaul of Hong Kong’s IPO regime has arguably resulted in better quality issuers coming to market. read

Nikkei Asian Review column

After a 14-month freeze, corporate issuers on the mainland are now back in the saddle for the year of the horse. read

Espinasse on RTHK 3, Bloomberg

I was back in RTHK 3’s Admiralty studio this morning for a live radio interview in the “Money for Nothing” programme, hosted by anchor Bryan Curtis. read

Huishan Dairy lists in Hong Kong

I was interviewed by BBC News again, this time about the IPO of China Huishan Dairy Holdings, which at US$1.3 billion (pre Greenshoe) currently stands as the second largest IPO in Hong Kong in 2013, after that of Sinopec Engineering. The deal was also the largest consumer sector IPO in Asia since the flotation of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery (also in Hong Kong) in December 2011. read

Espinasse on CNBC’s “Cash Flow”

I was back in CNBC’s Hong Kong studio this morning for live interviews with anchors Emily Chan and Oriel Morrison to comment on local IPOs. 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.

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Another (full) round of interviews

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. read