Initial public offering (IPO) activity in Taiwan may stage a rebound in the second half of the year, compared with the sharp decline in the number and value of deals seen over the past six months, Ernst & Young said in a report last week.
“The IPO market will fare stronger in the second half as several companies in the healthcare, tourism, retail and technology sectors have applied for primary listing on the local bourse,” Ernst & Young assurance partner Ian Wang (王彥鈞) told a media briefing on Thursday.
In the first half of the year, Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (台灣證券交易所) reported only five IPO deals: Casetek Holdings Limited (鎧勝), Airmate International Co (艾美特), Sinher Technology Inc (鑫禾科技), Nan Liu Enterprise Co (南六企業) and Scientech Corp (辛耘企業), the report showed.
The IPOs raised a total of NT$4 billion (US$132.8 billion), representing a decrease of 38 percent from the same period last year, Wang said.
Meanwhile, the over-the-counter Gretai Securities Market (檯買賣中心) saw 10 IPO deals that attracted a total of NT$1.93 billion, a decrease of 63 percent from a year ago, he added.
The sluggish performance is in line with the region’s weaker-than-expected economic recovery and the zero IPO activity seen in China as it retains the suspension of A-share listing applications it initiated in November last year, Ernst & Young managing partner Kim Chang (張嵐菁) said.
Chang said she is cautiously optimistic about an IPO comeback in the second half, because China is likely to lift its suspension and the IPO high season in Hong Kong — normally the last four months of the year — is approaching.
Small-cap companies are likely to dominate the Chinese IPO market once it reopens, while other Chinese enterprises would likely resume applications to list on the US bourse, Chang said.
Ernst & Young said about 50 firms were expected to apply to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange this year and an equal number would seek to debut on the over-the-counter market.
Changes to the capital gains tax on securities investments would not have much impact on IPO interest because only investors who sell a large volume of shares are to be subjected to the 15 percent levy, Wang said.
IPO applications are gaining speed, with four companies making moves last week alone, after the uncertainty over the levy was settled, Chinese-language media said.
Globally, IPO activity has held relatively steady, with 151 deals reported in the second quarter, five less than three months earlier, but an increase of 40 percent in terms of proceeds on the back of recovering confidence, Ernst & Young said.
The US market topped other bourses in terms of number of deals in the period from April to last month, followed by the Greater China area, in spite of the standstill in IPO activity in China, the report said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the