Asia Share Sales Double in Second Quarter Amid Retreat From U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Share sales in Asia bounced back to life in the second quarter with issuance more than doubling the amount a year ago as corporate demand for funds coincided with a surge in global stocks.

Firms in the region raised $48.2 billion via follow-on offerings in the three months through June, a 127% jump from the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest additional offering of the quarter was GlaxoSmithKline selling its stake in Unilever's Indian unit for $3.35 billion.

The resurgence in deal volume is a sign of how Asia -- the first to be hit by the virus -- is now the first to emerge, with IPOs picking up after a slow first quarter, particularly in Hong Kong. Chinese firms accounted for nearly all of the $18.8 billion raised through IPOs in Asia since April, highlighting the rising dominance of mainland companies tapping the region's capital markets.

Now bankers are looking to a busy second half with Chinese firms' offerings, including secondary listings in Hong Kong, expected to take center stage. The momentum already started last month when U.S.-listed Chinese tech giants JD.com Inc. and NetEase Inc. completed large share sales in Hong Kong, raising $7 billion.

“Now that there are viable markets such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Chinese companies don't have to be in the US exclusively anymore,” said Niccolo Manno, head of Asia Pacific ECM Syndicate at JPMorgan Chase & Co. “I think what you will see is that there's clearly the wish of some of these companies to come back as these markets are their natural listing venues and they can access an additional pool of capital.”

The U.S., once the listing venue of choice for many Chinese firms, now looks less appealing as tensions between the world's two largest economies have spiked, spanning trade, technology, Hong Kong and the origins of the coronavirus. Washington has threatened repercussions for China's imposition of a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong. That backdrop is prompting mainland companies trading in the U.S. to consider second listings closer to home, which would also allow them to expand their investor base.

Those mulling such a move include cloud computing firms GDS Holdings Ltd. and 21Vianet Group Inc., as well as Yum China Inc., Bloomberg News has reported. Similarly the pipeline of Chinese firms looking to go public in the U.S. has thinned, bankers say.

“We see that from the general trend perspective, because the issuers are quite aware of geopolitical risks, a number of these issuers are considering potential alternative listing venues to the U.S.,” said Selina Cheung, head of ECM, Greater China at UBS Group AG. “Some may want to privatize and think that there's no need to keep a U.S. listing status, some may think that they would like to keep one and do an accelerated fund raise on a secondary basis.”

Still, the Chinese firms that have gone public in the U.S. since the spectacular meltdown of Luckin Coffee Inc., formerly a poster-child for successful mainland startups, have performed well, in contrast to last year's cohort. Of the eight Chinese firms that have done so, five are trading above their offer prices.

“The fact is that good companies are getting listed and are generating positive investor interest despite the Covid-19 and geopolitical backdrop,” said Johnson Chui, head of Asia Pacific equity capital markets at Credit Suisse Group AG.

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