The global market for initial public offerings (IPOs) is off to one of its strongest starts since 2007.
In the first half of the year, 772 IPO deals across the globe raised a total of US$83.4 billion (S$115 billion) in proceeds, up 90 per cent from the same period a year ago.
Ample market liquidity and the upward march of global equity indices have also made the first half of this year the most active first half since 2007, going by the total number of IPOs, according to the EY Global IPO Trends report out yesterday.
In the first six months of 2007, a total of 941 IPOs raised US$146 billion in proceeds.
The Asia-Pacific region is leading the global IPO market in terms of volume and proceeds, accounting for 61 per cent or 468 of the total number of IPOs worldwide and 44 per cent or US$37 billion of proceeds. The region is also experiencing the highest activity in the first half of a year since 2002. Stock exchanges in Greater China were the busiest, with 317 IPOs.
In South-east Asia, the Indonesia Stock Exchange was the most active exchange in the second quarter, with 13 deals raising US$220.7 million.
The highest proceeds came from Malaysia (US$1.34 billion), then Thailand (US$905.3 million) and the Philippines (US$361.4 million).
The five IPOs on the Singapore Exchange have raised a total of US$182 million in the second quarter, the EY report said.
Dr Martin Steinbach, EY Global IPO leader, said: "Activity is underpinned by rallies in many bull markets reaching all-time highs, while investor sentiment has brightened and global outlook is positive. With the momentum of the first half, 2017 is poised to surpass 2016 global IPO levels by both number and proceeds."
EY Asean managing partner Max Loh added: "Asia-Pacific's position as the leading centre of IPO activity will remain unchallenged through the remainder of 2017 with Greater China leading the way. Notably, Korea made a significant contribution to total proceeds in the first half of 2017, with mega IPOs from the technology and financial sectors."
