Shanghai has topped global initial public offering (IPO) league table
for the first time in nearly three years, even as the coronavirus
epidemic which originated in China rocked markets around the world.To
get more news about
coronavirus in shanghai, you can visit shine news official website.
A total of 33 companies raised $7.31 billion floating on the
Shanghai main board and the city's start up-focused STAR market,
according to Refinitiv data for the first quarter, easily outstripping
New York's Nasdaq where 17 companies raised $5.13 billion via IPOs.
But even as Shanghai basks in success, for cash-seeking companies
and their bankers the question is whether China can maintain this
momentum as the coronavirus continues to cause massive disruption in
global financial markets.
While Shanghai hosted the $4.4 billion IPO of Beijing-Shanghai Speed
Railway early in January, accounting for most the funds on the main
board, STAR market issuance held up even as the country went into
virtual lockdown in February.China's markets have fared better than many
Western benchmarks, with the blue-chip CSI 300 down 9.4% for the year
as of Friday March 27, compared with tumbles of 21% fall for the S&P
500 in New York and 25% for the pan-European STOXX 600 index.
EY Greater China IPO practice leader Terence Ho said the fiscal
response from China's government - which accelerated a massive programme
of economic stimulus measures - could help boost the prospects of
companies looking to list on the mainland markets.
"The Chinese government has already rolled out timely policies to
help companies, with more economic stimulus on the way," Ho wrote in a
recent report.
"These efforts should help the economy and IPO markets recover more
quickly when the outbreak is controlled."China has also relaxed the
rules for follow-on share sales by listed companies in an effort to help
virus-hit firms raise cash.
January-March 2020 was the first time since the third quarter of
2017 that Shanghai topped the global leader board to beat the larger New
York and Hong Kong exchanges.
"I'm not surprised," said Zhu Ning, deputy dean of the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF).
"The number of Chinese start-ups is huge and there's an increasing
tendency for Chinese companies to list in the domestic market, where
valuation is much higher."
Thailand ranked third for IPOs, thanks to the $2.5 billion IPO of Central Retail in February - the country's largest ever IPO.
The Wall