BreakingIPO market set to reopen for business

Mainland authorities are ready to open the floodgates for new stock listings anytime soon, says an adviser to policymakers in Beijing, freeing up the backlog of companies looking to raise capital and allowing private-equity firms to cash in their stakes.

There has been recent speculation on the mainland that the domestic initial public offering market, shut since November, could restart either before or after the October 1 National Day holiday, when the securities regulator completes a detailed plan to reform stock-offer procedures.

Speaking at an industry forum in Hong Kong yesterday, Fred Hu, chairman of China-focused private-equity firm Primavera and a former Goldman Sachs partner, said: "China's listing market will resume between now and the year end."

That should help ease some of the pressure on private-equity firms that own minority stakes in companies hoping to list.

Known for his candid macroeconomic research and advice to policymakers in Beijing, Hu said: "There is no way the CSRC [China Securities Regulatory Commission] or the Chinese government wants to have a permanent freeze on [public] equity financing."

He said a clear trend in the mainland's continuing financial reform was "to increase the important role of direct financing, i.e. capital markets, for equity and debt issuance, as well as bank lending practices".