Before these two listings, other IPO aspirants have bulldozed past the market volatility caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to EY, there were 872 IPOs across the world in the first nine months of the year, up 14% y-o-y. Total amount raised was up by a bigger magnitude of 43% y-o-y to US$165.3 billion. “Although the market sentiments can be fragile, the scene is set for a busy last quarter to end a turbulent 2020 that has seen some stellar IPO performance,” says Paul Go, EY’s global IPO leader.
Two new listings have hogged headlines for different reasons in recent weeks. Shares of Big Hit Entertainment, which manages popular Korean boy band BTS, made its debut at more than double its IPO price of KRW135,000 ($161.53) as frenzied fans piled in, allowing nimble investors to make some money. From the post-IPO peak of KRW351,000, Big Hit shares are down by half to close at KRW179,000 on Oct 21.
Meanwhile, AntGroup, the newly-rebranded FinTech unit linked to Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, is said to be getting ready for its listing on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges. With an anticipated US$35 billion ($47.5 billion) to be raised, this issue will eclipse Saudi Aramco’s US$29.4 billion to be the world’s largest ever.
