Hong Kong set to lose global IPO crown to New York and Shanghai as fundraising halves
Hong Kong looks to have lost out to New York and Shanghai this year, with Thomson Reuters ranking the city third, while ‘old economy’ listings continue to dominate locally and hi-techs choose elsewhere to float
Hong Kong is on track to lose its much-coveted crown as the world’s top initial public offering (IPO) market as the year draws to a close, with latest figures showing total funds raised here have dropped 48 per cent compared with 12 months ago, leaving the city ranked third behind New York and Shanghai.
IPO funding raised by 67 companies on the main board of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) this year stood at US$12.29 billion as of Wednesday, according to data from Thomson Reuters, compared with US$23.72 billion at the same stage of 2016.
New York’s 67 IPOs raised US$28.93 billion and Shanghai saw 197 companies raise US$18.69 billion.
The disappointing Hong Kong result comes even after a recent flurry of new listings in the past two months – but even those failed to turn the tide in its favour.
The city has been the top IPO market for the past two years, but a lack of real blockbuster new listings and its failure especially to attract tech firms, have been blamed for getting kicked it off its perch.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan has already announced a consultation paper will be launched by HKEX in the first quarter of next year on plans to examine allowing dual class stock listings – a type favoured by many technology or new economy companies – which it hopes will help reverse its fortunes.