Singapore’s IPO market roars back to life in H1, more big listings on the way

Eight listings raised $1.6b in 6 months.

After an extremely unimpressive performance in 2015, Singapore seems to have regained its footing as one of Asia’s most active initial public offering (IPO) destination. The local market welcomed a total of 8 IPOs in the first half of the year, a massive increase compared to only 3 IPOs in the same period last year.

According to a report by Deloitte, new listings on the Singapore Exchange raised a total of $1.6 billion over the first six months of the year, more than 29 times of total funds raised in H1 2015.

“Proceeds for this period rose sharply due to two jumbo listings each raising S$633m (Manulife US REIT) and S$903m (Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust), exceeding the S$276m proceeds raised by the sole Mainboard listing (BHG REIT) in 2015. This sets a good stage for IPO aspirants and investors which we hope will encourage and whet their appetite for new share offering activities in the second half of 2016,” said Ernest Kan, Deloitte Southeast Asia leader for global IFRS and offerings services.

The report added that IPO volume tends to improve further in the second half of the year, judging by an analysis of the trends observed in the past four years.

“Taking into consideration such historical trends, we are expecting more IPOs in the second half of 2016, with companies demonstrating their confidence in planning listings,” Kan added.

Potential IPOs in the second half include mm2 Asia’s subsidiary, UnUsUal and Q&M Dental (China) for the Catalist board, as well as Greenland Group and Shanghai-based EC World REIT from Forchn Holdings Group on the Mainboard.

“Following the pickup for fund-raising and public listings in 2016 H1, I believe the window of opportunity remains open in the next six months as fund managers have deep pockets to invest in IPOs,” Kan said.