The amount raised in stock market flotations around the world this year is expected to break the 2007 record of US$300 billion, according to research from accountants Ernst & Young.
Asian companies are behind a surge in the number of floats. Britain and Europe have done better than last year, but account for only a tiny proportion of new activity because of fears about the future of the euro and the sovereign debt crisis, according to research from accountants Ernst & Young.
In the UK, the change of government, uncertainty over budget cuts and fears of a double dip recession have put off scores of companies from listing on the London Stock Exchange.
The biggest initial public offer (IPO) of new shares so far this year was in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where Agricultural Bank of China (中國農業銀行) raised US$22.1 billion, making it the biggest float in history. Agricultural was closely followed by AIA, an offshoot of American insurer AIG, which collected over US$20 billion after its IPO in Hong Kong.
Ernst & Young says that in the first 11 months of this year, 1,199 companies have raised US$255 billion with Chinese firms accounting for more than 45 percent of the value.
“The IPO market reflects the twin-track global economy with Europe and the US trailing Asia, where GDP is racing ahead. I think next year will be a similar story, with perhaps more action from Latin America, especially Brazil. South America has recovered less quickly from the recession than China and India, but is now rebounding strongly,” said David Wilkinson, UK IPO leader at Ernst & Young.
In Britain, 50 companies listed in London during the first 11 months of this year, up from seven in the whole of last year, raising US$10 billion.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
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