Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE, 台灣證交所) expects three to five foreign companies to hold initial share sales in Taiwan this year, as it seeks to become an international fund-raising center.
The bourse is targeting small and medium technology companies for initial public offerings (IPOs), spokesman Stanley Chu (朱士廷) told reporters at a lunch meeting yesterday.
Domestic IPOs could drop to 25 this year, compared with 26 last year, while listings of Taiwan depositary receipts (TDRs) by foreign companies may increase to as many as 20 this year, from 10 last year, he said.
“The numbers may appear small but we have stringent criteria to make sure our investors are protected,” Chu said.
The bourse is looking for “big brand names” to list TDRs in Taiwan, he said, declining to name any potential investors.
The benchmark TAIEX rose 78 percent last year, the most since 1993, while closer ties with China last year prompted Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (康師傅控股), the largest noodle maker in China, and Want Want China Holdings Ltd (中國旺旺控股), China’s largest maker of rice cakes, to list TDRs in Taiwan. Both companies are controlled by Taiwanese investors.
“As for foreign companies, I am not so sure if we can get them to list here first, given the world market is so big,” said Harvey Chang, a fund manager at SinoPac Securities Investment Trust Co (永豐投信), who helps oversee NT$50 billion.
The TDR target is “realistic” because “some Taiwan-related companies may like to return to list because they may get better valuations back home and some publicity,” he said.
Taiwan’s US$643 billion market value is dwarfed by the US$3 trillion in China and US$2.1 trillion in Hong Kong.
Taiwan and China are planning to permit trading of each others’ shares for the first time as ties improve. A so-called trading platform may list as many as 30 stocks from each market, TWSE chairman Schive Chi (薛琦) said last May.
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