Nineteen overseas businesses have signed contracts with domestic underwriters in preparation for listing on the local capital market, following in the footsteps of Want Want China (旺旺中國), Ju Teng International Holdings Ltd (巨騰) and two other firms, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Saturday.
“An increasing number of foreign companies will seek to be listed on the local bourse … strengthening the nation’s goal of becoming a regional capital-raising hub,” the commission’s press statement said on Saturday.
As of last Monday, both Want Want China and Ju Teng had completed their issuance of Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDRs), while Array Inc (安瑞科技) — one of the first Chinese-owned technology companies to test the waters of the local bourse — and Cowealth Medical Holding Co (合富醫療控股) were listed on the GRETAI Securities Market, the statement said.
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TSE) chairman Schive Chi (薛琦) said last Monday that he expected the number of overseas Taiwanese companies listed on the local bourse to reach between 20 and 25 by the year’s end.
When that number reaches 40, the exchange plans to begin sales of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Schive was quoted as saying by Chinese-language Economic Daily News.
Schive said half of the 130 Taiwanese businesses that are listed on neighboring Asian bourses, including those in Hong Kong and China, are qualified to issue TDRs in the local market.
Schive said the interest of these companies in the TSE appeared to have greatly increased since the government relaxed regulations on capital raised locally and the required thresholds for listing.
The exchange’s statistics showed that as of the end of March, 45 of 65 Taiwanese businesses listed in Hong Kong had underperformed the Hang Seng’s 40.75 percent decline compared with one year earlier, with an averaged price-to-earning ratio of nine — lower than that of the TAIEX which is 14.
In addition, the FSC said that the nation’s issuance of a Formosa Bond has also born fruit.
As of last Tuesday, bond transactions totaled US$136 million in purchases and A$50.34 million (US$40.3 million) in sales, while repurchases and resale agreements respectively reached US$5.864 billion and A$23.63 million, following the issuances underwritten by Deutsche Bank Taiwan and BNP Paribas in 2006 and 2007.
The commission has given its approval to Deutsche Bank’s planned issuance of another US$1 billion in bonds in the next two years, the statement said.
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