IPO market marks its busiest half-year in five years

New IPOs in SG increased from three in H1 2021 to 10 in H1 2022.

The geopolitical instability seems to have not affected Singapore’s initial public offering (IPO) market as it marked its busiest half-year in five years. 

Based on a report by PwC, the IPO market’s performance was “considerably up” compared to the same period last year, with new IPOs increasing from three to 10, and total funds raised jumping from $0.34b to $0.57b.

The IPO volume for the first half (H1) of 2022 is also the highest half-year volume since 2017, according to PwC.

Whilst the IPO volume was higher than in previous years, the total funds raised in H1 2022 were lower than the number recorded in 2019 and 2020.

PwC said this is because of the REITs listings in the past years which raised higher funds. In H1 2022, the expert said there weren’t any new REIT IPO.

What gave a push to the IPO market was the entry of three Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) namely Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation (VTAC), Pegasus Asia, and Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition. Together, the three raised total proceeds of $538m.

PwC said SPACs will continue to be a positive investment trend in Singapore.

Apart from SPACs, PwC said what “characterised” the IPO market in the first half were the newly publicly traded companies that were spinoffs of their previously listed parent group, like Yangzijiang Financial Holdings.

Looking ahead, PwC said that Singapore's capital market activities will continue to grow in H2 22.

“We believe SGX will continue to be attractive and a listing destination of choice for companies across niche sectors such as real estate, healthcare, and consumer discretionary,” the analyst commented.