IPO Boom in Asian Emerging Markets Bucks Global Trend

Fox Hu

01 Nov 2019, 03:09 PM IST

(Bloomberg) -- Hanwha Systems Co., a maker of military radars and communication equipment, just set the price for South Korea’s second-biggest initial public offering this year, helping boost the deal flow in Asia’s emerging markets.

The Seoul-based company and its existing shareholders will raise about $345 million from the sale, according to a filing Friday. The deal size comes in slightly below Lotte REIT Co.’s $353 million offering last month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Despite a global IPO slowdown, emerging markets in Asia are picking up this year, with sizable growth in places like China, South Korea and Malaysia. Deals worth a total of $37.8 billion have been priced in emerging Asia, up 13% from the first 10 months of 2018. China’s deal value has surged 50% from a year ago, while South Korea’s has seen a 38% increase.

Globally, the value of deals priced has dropped 21% to $153 billion in 2019 from the first 10 months of 2018. Asia’s developed markets have suffered a bigger decline, with the value shrinking 37% to $28.1 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Hong Kong’s political unrest and a spate of pulled deals in Australia added to the slowdown in developed Asia.

Nevertheless, a possible $10 billion listing by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. could save the year for Hong Kong as well as for developed Asia. The Chinese e-commerce giant is deciding between launching a Hong Kong sale in November or delaying it until next year as global uncertainty mounts, people with knowledge of the matter said Thursday.

UPCOMING LISTINGS:

Hanwha Systems
- Korea exchange
- Size $345m
- Listing Nov. 14
- Citi, Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment
S Hotels and Resorts
- Thailand exchange
- Size $236m
- Listing Nov. 12
- Credit Suisse
Changsha Broad Homes Industrial Group
- Hong Kong exchange
- Size up to $194m
- Listing Nov. 6
- China Securities, CICC
Shanghai Kindly Medical Instruments
- Hong Kong exchange
- Size up to $106m
- Listing Nov. 8
- Bocom International
Bangkok Commercial Asset Management
- Thailand stock exchange
- Size at least $700m
- Listing date TBA
- Trinity Securities, Kasikorn Securities
Sinic Holdings Group
- Hong Kong stock exchange
- Up tp $287 million
- Pricing Nov. 8, listing Nov. 15
- ABC International, Huatai Financial
China Feihe
- Hong Kong stock exchange
- Size up to $1.1b
- Listing expected Nov. 13
- JPMorgan, CMS, CCB International
Bafang Electric Suzhou
- Shanghai exchange
- Size $197m
- Taking orders Oct. 30; listing date TBA
- Shenwan Hongyuan

More ECM situations we are following:

EHang Holdings, one of several companies seeking to market robo taxi aircraft as soon as next year, has filed for a U.S. IPO
Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, the Mongolian state-owned coal miner, has picked banks including Bank of America and Credit Suisse to lead a planned Hong Kong IPO that could raise more than $1 billion
ESR Cayman rose as much as 7.7% in its Hong Kong debut following a $1.6b IPO
Fangdd Network Group, a Chinese online real estate broker backed by FountainVest Partners, has raised $78 million after pricing its downsized U.S. IPO at $13 a share, the bottom of a marketed range
PTT Oil and Retail Business is still in the process of listing the company, with a goal to increase its international business profile, especially in Southeast Asia, said Chairman Auttapol Rerkpiboon
NCS Testing Technology jumped by the 44% first-day limit in Shenzhen its debut
Beijing Baolande Software rallied as much as 50% in its Shanghai Star board debut