Asia’s stock markets are gearing up for their busiest week of listings in more than two years, offering a crucial test of demand as companies rush to raise money before the US presidential election next month.
About 20 companies from the Asia Pacific region are listing shares this week in deals that might raise as much as US$8.3 billion, the biggest weekly volume since April 2022, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
The heavy supply includes deals from China, India and Japan, underscoring the broad revival in share sales across the region.
Photo: Bloomberg
“There is a level of animal spirits returning to the Asia market,” said Matthew Emsley, a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP in Hong Kong who works on initial public offerings (IPOs), using a popular term for changes in market behavior that are often driven by emotions. “There’s an increased level of activity and urgency to take advantage of that positivity.”
The performance of the newly listed shares would be keenly watched by bankers planning to bring a spree of equity offerings in Asia over the next few weeks, as companies and major shareholders attempt to close deals before the Nov. 5 election.
China Resources Beverage Holdings Co (華潤飲料) and autonomous-driving technology firm Horizon Robotics Inc (地平線機器人) are set to debut in Hong Kong on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, raising more than US$1.3 billion between them. Their success might spark a broader revival of Chinese share sales in Hong Kong, once a busy — and lucrative — segment of the IPO market.
The stakes are also high in India, with a trading debut on Tuesday for Hyundai Motor India Ltd’s US$3.3 billion listing, the country’s biggest-ever IPO. The deal was oversubscribed more than two times on the last day of sale, but drew poor interest from smaller investors.
With Hyundai’s proceeds, Indian IPOs would have raised more than US$12 billion this year, eclipsing volumes for the past two years, but still below the record US$17.8 billion raised in 2021, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
Other debuts include food-delivery company Swiggy Ltd and the renewable-energy arm of state-run power producer NTPC Ltd.
In Japan, Tokyo Metro Co’s US$2.3 billion listing is scheduled for Wednesday. The deal, which would be the country’s biggest IPO since 2018, comes amid a tumultuous period for Japanese markets. The yen depreciated below 150 per US dollar last week, and the appointment of a new prime minister has fueled speculation about policy.
Japanese X-ray technology company Rigaku Holdings Corp would cap the week, after it closed an about US$750 million deal. The company’s shares would start trading on Friday.
Not all potential issuers are moving forward with their listing plans. South Korean online lender K Bank Co, which had hoped to raise about US$700 million from an IPO in its local market, withdrew the deal after failing to generate enough demand, it said in a regulatory filing.
AI AIM: The chipmaker wants joint research and development programs with the Czech Republic, and the government is considering supporting investments in a Czech location Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is planning to build more plants in Europe with a focus on the market for artificial intelligence (AI) chips as the chipmaker expands its global footprint, a senior Taiwanese official said. “They have started construction of the first fab in Dresden; they are already planning the next few fabs in the future for different market sectors as well,” National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) told Bloomberg TV in an interview that aired yesterday. Wu did not specify a timeline for TSMC’s further expansion in Europe. TSMC in an e-mailed statement said it
US PROBE: The Information reported that the US Department of Commerce is investigating whether the firm made advanced chips for China’s Huawei Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract maker of advanced chips, yesterday said it is a law-abiding company, and is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations including export controls. The Hsinchu-based chip giant issued the statement after US news Web site The Information ran a story saying that the US Department of Commerce has launched a probe into TSMC over whether it breached export rules by making smartphone or artificial intelligence (AI) chips for China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為). “We maintain a robust and comprehensive export system for monitoring and ensuring compliance,” the statement said. “If we
DEMAND FOR AI CHIPS: Net income in the third quarter surged 31.2% quarter-on-quarter to NT$325.26 billion, the strongest quarterly return in the company’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday raised its revenue forecast to annual growth of 30 percent this year, thanks to strong and sustainable demand for artificial intelligence (AI) processors for servers. It was the second upward adjustment from 25 percent year-on-year growth estimated three months ago, despite recent concerns about whether the AI boom could be another technology bubble. “The demand is real. It’s real. And I believe it is just the beginning of this demand. Alright, so one of my key customers said the demand right now is ‘insane,’” TSMC chairman and chief executive C.C.
COUNTRY-BASED: Setting ceilings on sales of the technology would tighten limits that originally targeted China’s ambitions in artificial intelligence amid security risks US officials have discussed capping sales of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Nvidia Corp and other American companies on a country-specific basis, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would limit some nations’ AI capabilities. The new approach would set a ceiling on export licenses for some countries in the interest of national security, according to the people, who described the private discussions on condition of anonymity. Officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden focused on Persian Gulf countries that have a growing appetite for AI data centers and the deep pockets to fund them, the people