Has London lost its aura as a venue for initial public offerings? By last year, Hong Kong had overtaken it as the world’s preferred IPO venue, raising $53.2bn, almost five times as much as London, Dealogic data show. Issuers raised more in Hong Kong than in New York, London and Singapore combined. This year, however, the tables have turned: New York leads the pack with 22 deals worth $16bn to Hong Kong’s 11 deals worth $2.4bn, just behind London. Yet the underlying shift is still undeniably eastward: since the beginning of 2006, Hong Kong IPOs have raised $167bn, outstripping New York’s $160bn and $104bn in London.
作為首次公開發行(IPO)場所，倫敦已經失去了光環嗎？根據Dealogic的數據，去年，香港已超過倫敦成為全球首選的IPO場所，共募集資金532億美元，幾乎是倫敦的5倍。發行者在香港籌集的資金超過了紐約、倫敦和新加坡三地的總和。不過，今年情況出現了逆轉：紐約以價值160億美元的22宗交易拔得頭籌，香港以價值24億美元的11宗交易僅次于倫敦。但不可否認的是，根本性的趨勢仍是在堅定不移地向東方轉移：2006年初以來，香港的IPO融資額達到1670億美元，超過了紐約的1600億美元和倫敦的1040億美元。