Equity fundraising in the special administrative region has fallen by more than a quarter in the first half of 2019, as Chinese firms take their listings to New York.
New York has reclaimed the position as the top place for IPOs from Hong Kong – the value of IPOs on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) for the first half of 2019 fell 27 percent from a year ago to $8.9 billion, while the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq raised $17.4 billion and $14.4 billion respectively over the same time period, «Financial Times» (behind paywall) reported, citing data from Refinitiv.
A large share of the Big Apple's listings come from Chinese companies, in a sign that ongoing U.S.-China trade war and a new listings regime by HKEX that allows founders to retain greater control over their companies after listing has done little to stop them from listing in New York.
New York has already seen the largest IPO this year – Uber's $8.3-billion listing with NYSE in May. Chinese firms that have chosen to list in New York include Luckin Coffee ($561 million), incubator Ruhnn ($125 million) and online marketplace So-Young ($179 million).
Alibaba Listing
The next half of the year is likely to be better for HKEX – In June, Alibaba reportedly filed confidentially for a $20-billion secondary listing in Hong Kong. Budweiser brewer AB InBev is also preparing to raise $9.8 billion from listing a minority stake in its Asia business, «Financial Times» reported.
