Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s (HKEX) two major listing reforms over the past two years to encourage fundraising deals by SPACs and specialist technology firms have yielded little success and industry participants are demanding further relaxations to help resuscitate IPO volumes in the city which have shrunk to a two-decade low, the South China Morning Post reports.
Hong Kong stock exchange’s IPO ranking sank to 8th in 2023, with fundraising slumping to $5.9 billion from 68 listings, the lowest since 2003, with blame being pinned on the tough listing requirements and high-interest rates, according to industry players.
There were no SPAC listings in Hong Kong last year. Only five SPACs listed in Hong Kong in 2022 raising a combined $639 million following the rule changes in January that year. That is a fraction of the $13.4 billion raised by 86 SPACs in the US in the same year, according to Dealogic data. Read more.
