Global IPO activity to remain robust: Ernst & Young

Fri, Jul 15, 2011 -Taipei Times  Despite global economic uncertainties, Ernst & Young expects global initial public offerings (IPO), including in Taiwan, to keep growing in the second half of this year, company officials said yesterday. "The number of IPOs in Taiwan and the amount of funds raised may both double in the second half from the first half, as the government gradually loosens related policies," said Ian Wang (王彥鈞), an assurance partner in the US firm's Taiwan branch, at a media briefing. A total of 13 companies — up 30 percent from a year earlier — launched IPOs in Taiwan in the first half of the year, including five issuing Taiwan depositary receipts (TDR), according to Ernst & Young's data. Companies that plan IPOs or TDRs in Taiwan in the second half include those engaged in the information and communications technology, or ICT, biomedical and green energy fields, Wang said. Coland Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (康聯藥業), a major high-tech pharmaceutical company in China and an Ernst & Young client, will have its IPO in Taiwan in the third quarter, Wang said. "The government's support of these emerging industries drives up these companies' interest in issuing IPOs in Taiwan," Wang said. Ernst & Young expects global IPOs to maintain their brisk pace in the second half. "Despite rising concerns over the eurozone debt crisis, we still feel optimistic that the crisis will be solved," thus lending support to the momentum of global IPOs," said James Wang (王金來), chairman of Ernst & Young Taiwan. The slowing economy in the US and the eurozone in the second half may help drive up companies' interest in launching IPOs in Asia, especially in China and Hong Kong, the firm's report said. The planned "International Board" in the Shanghai Stock Exchange could be another driver for IPO plans, Ian Wang said, adding that the board would be launched in the second half of the year at the earliest, with the first company to be listed at the end of this year or the start of next year. Based on Ernst & Young's data, funds raised by 378 IPOs worldwide rose by 39 percent to US$64.4 billion in the second quarter from the first quarter.