With more IPO listings than any year since 2007, driven by lower market volatility across regions, high valuation levels and a renewed appetite for cross-border IPOs, 2017 has been a bountiful year, a report by consultancy firm EY said.
Shenzhen Stock Exchange small and medium enterprise board and growth enterprises market saw 222 IPOs with Shanghai Stock Exchange hosting another 214, amounting to 436 in the Chinese mainland, with 160 in Hong Kong exchanges (the Main Board and the Growth Enterprise Market), read the report on Wednesday.
With respect to the Chinese A-share market, 436 IPOs in 2017 raised a total of 230 billion yuan ($35 billion), up 92 percent by volume and 53 percent by proceeds compared with 2016.
Worldwide, the report said 1,624 IPOs raised $189 billion in the year, an increase of 49 percent in the number of deals and 40 percent in capital raised. Although these figures do not reach the levels of 2007 (1,974 IPOs with $338 billion of funds raised), as markets return to pre-crisis levels, investors anticipate that more megadeals will increase global proceeds in 2018.
