SHANGHAI • Asian companies accounted for almost half of the global stock offering haul in the first half of this year, with the three biggest deals all coming from the region, as second listings by Chinese businesses boosted volumes.
Companies in Asia raised US$46.2 billion (S$64.2 billion) through initial share sales in the first six months of this year, representing 49 per cent of the US$93.9 billion fetched globally, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
That is the highest proportion for the first half of a year in the last decade, the data shows, underscoring Asia's rising share of equity capital markets activity.
Chinese companies accounted for most of Asia's listings in the second quarter, as the world's second-largest economy emerged from the coronavirus pandemic sooner than other parts of the world.
The growing trend of US-traded Chinese companies seeking to list closer to home amid rising global trade tensions also contributed to the heightened activity.
"The response to Covid-19 in Asia and the quick actions taken helped underpin investor confidence," said Mr Kenneth Chow, co-head of equity capital markets for Asia at Citigroup.
"We're seeing a stream of healthcare and biotech companies getting listed in Hong Kong. The valuations have gone up, so they're coming to the market."
Biotech firms were some of the only companies completing IPOs (initial public offerings) when the equity market was slumping in March, with the sector emerging as a winner from the pandemic, driven by higher demand for healthcare.
Asian healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotech companies raised US$8.6 billion through listings in the first half, almost as much as what was fetched in all of last year.
Boosting Asia's share of global listing volumes is also the fact that European and United States companies raised less money through initial share sales than a year ago, as economies in those regions were pummelled by strict lockdowns.
First-time share sales by European companies slumped 50 per cent in the first half, while those by American firms declined 13 per cent, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.
Conversely, Asian firms raised 54 per cent more than last year through IPOs and second listings.
Globally, the top three listings of the first half were by Chinese companies.
JD.com was the largest, raising US$4.46 billion in its Hong Kong share sale. It was followed by Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway, which fetched US$4.34 billion on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style Star board in January, and NetEase, which completed a US$3.13 billion second listing in Hong Kong last month.
Companies from Asia tend to dominate listing activity in the second half of the year, accounting for an average of 53 per cent of global volumes in July to December over the past decade, data shows.
In the second half of last year, Asian companies made up 52 per cent of stock listing proceeds, helped by Alibaba Group Holding's US$13 billion deal in Hong Kong.
The second half of this year is already off to a strong start for Asian companies, with China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International set to raise as much as US$7.5 billion in the world's largest listing, year to date.
BLOOMBERG
