China to remain NYSE's major contributor of int'l IPOs in 2019

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China has been a major market for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) when it comes to international initial public offerings (IPOs) over the past few years, and the trend will continue in 2019, according to the exchange.

The wholly-owned subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange finished 2018 with 125 billion U.S. dollars in proceeds raised from 356 transactions. In a year marked by elevated volatility in U.S. equity markets, NYSE issuers raised 30 billion dollars in proceeds from 73 IPOs, statistics showed.

A total of 25 international IPOs were executed during the year, raising 10 billion dollars in proceeds, including Tencent Music Entertainment Group from China, PagSeguro Digital Ltd. from Brazil, and Hudson Ltd. and Farfetch Ltd. from Britain.

A total of 18 Chinese companies raised more than four billion dollars in proceeds last year, the exchange said in its response to Xinhua's inquiry. The companies are from a variety of industries, including education, hospitality, technology, and automotive.

Alex Ibrahim, head of international capital markets at NYSE, told Xinhua that it was a "huge highlight" to have companies like Tencent Music Entertainment listing on the exchange and raising over one billion dollars.

The IPO of Nio, a leading Chinese electric vehicle maker, also raised more than one billion dollars and was a very successful transaction, he noted. "It was super exciting to see those cars in front of the exchange and in Times Square," Ibrahim said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Asked why so many Chinese companies chose to list in NYSE over other stock exchanges, Ibrahim said one major reason is that U.S. market is the deepest in the world and companies want to have access to liquidity.

He added that the companies also want to be next to their competitors that have already been listed in NYSE so as to make sure the evaluation is aligned and make themselves available to the vast number of investors.

"This trend will continue because I think there are fantastic companies in China," he said.

He said that the human element the NYSE has is also an important reason why companies are willing to be listed there.

On the other hand, the demand from U.S. investors' side for Chinese companies and products is high.

Ibrahim said there are a lot of great entrepreneurs creating and selling new technologies and tapping the growth of Chinese economy.

"Investors want to be part of this growth," he said, adding that the way to access the growth is through IPOs.

NYSE-listed companies traded with 45 percent lower volatility compared to companies listed and traded on other U.S. exchanges, according to the stock exchange.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency