Hong Kong wooing overseas-listed and Southeast Asian companies for IPO debuts, says Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chairwoman Laura Cha Shih May-lung
- Shanghai and Singapore will be tough rivals in battle for fresh IPO blood
- Hong Kong will go after US and UK-listed firms, as well as those from Southeast Asia, says chairwoman Laura Cha Shih May-lung of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing
Last year, Hong Kong’s savvy wooing of hi-tech superstars helped make it home to the world’s largest IPO market. Now the city’s stock exchange operator is going after a new crowd: US and UK-listed firms open to secondary listings, as well as capital-hungry companies in Southeast Asia eager to go public.
Laura Cha Shih May-lung, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said she expects competition from mainland China, which is launching a new hi-tech board in Shanghai to try to entice its top tech players to list at home.
Like Hong Kong did last April, Shanghai’s Technology Innovation Board will allow unprofitable tech firms, including pre-revenue biotech start-ups, to list, as well as companies with dual-class shareholding structures. Like Hong Kong, it also wants secondary listings.
Meanwhile, arch rival Singapore will be stiff competition for Hong Kong for listings of Southeast Asian companies.
“Last year, we put more promotional efforts into attracting dual-class shareholding companies and biotechnology firms. We have seen a satisfactory number of new listings in these companies,” Cha told a group local reporters.