Now, a world-beating rally in Chinese and Hong Kong stocks has brightened the outlook for the second half, while large listings are being readied from Japan to South Korea and Southeast Asia.
It’s been a rather quiet first six months of the year for initial public offerings in Asia, as the region got swept up in the market rout caused by raging inflation and hawkish monetary policies. But with green shoots starting to sprout in some markets, there are some large deals on the horizon.
Share sales globally plummeted some 70% from a year ago in the first half, to levels not seen in almost two decades, as investors and issuers shied away from volatile markets. IPOs in Asia fared better than in regions such as Europe and the US, with large deals in China and South Korea helping listings here account for almost 60% of global volumes, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
