IPO Liquidity Event Engine Cools

Tom Burroughes

2 April 2019

Figures show that the volume and value of US initial public offerings - important liquidity events - fell in the first three months of this year from a year ago as economic uncertainties took a toll. And outside the US, data from the often-vibrant market of Hong Kong shows that values fell.

In the US, only 18 IPOs were priced in the first quarter, the lowest figure since the first three months of 2016, according to investment advisor firm Renaissance Capital . The volume of capital raised totaled $4.7 billion during the period, slumping by 69.8 per cent from the amount of new capital raised in Q1, 2018.

The 18 priced deals represents a 59.1 per cent drop from a year ago.

Healthcare companies made up two-thirds of all US IPOs that were priced during Q1. Financial services and technology IPOs each represented 11 per cent of the total number of IPOs priced during the period. The largest deals priced during the quarter included ride-hailing firm Lyft which raised $2.34 billion and clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss which raised $623 million.

Turning eastward, Hong Kong's market for IPOs, which had been vibrant last year, fell, although the scale of the fall was not as severe as in the US, according to figures from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The total number of IPOs in the first quarter of 2019 is 43, compared with 69 in the first quarter of 2018.

The number of companies listed on the main board of the Kong Kong stock exchange increased from 36 in the first quarter of 2018 to 38 in the first quarter of 2019; the number of new listings on the Growth Enterprise Market, aka GEM, fell from 33 in the first quarter of 2018 to five in the first quarter of 2019.

The total of IPO funds raised in the first quarter of 2019 is HK$20.3 billion . This is a drop of 17 per cent compared with the amount raised in the same period last year.

The report predicts that a total of 140 new listings on the main board of the exchange will happen this year, raising a total of HK$195-215 billion in capital. If the GEM category is added, the predicted total listing and value will rise to 200 and HK$200-220 billion, respectively.

IPOs, along with trade sales of firms, exercise of share options and inheritances, are key sources of new millionaires and ultra-high net worth individuals, and hence are closely tracked by the wealth management sector.

Pricewaterhouse and UBS last year issued their latest joint report on the number of new billionaires minted around the world, highlighting the strength of China in this regard, although that study was issued before stock markets were hit in late 2018.