2007年7月13日 中国IPO飙升背后的担忧
瑞银集团(UBS)在中国内地市场的首单股票承销业务昨日精彩登场。西部矿业(Western Mining)规模8.16亿美元的首次公开发行(IPO)在首日交易中大涨144%。这只股票的承销商是这家瑞士银行新成立的中国合资公司。 UBS's first Chinese listing got off to a cracking start on Thursday. Western Mining's $816m initial public offering, brought to market by the Swiss bank's freshly-minted Chinese joint venture, soared 144 per cent on its debut. Even by China's super-size standards, that is a healthy one-day pop: the market's fifth biggest in the past seven years. It is also double the average first-day gain chalked up on the local-currency A-share market so far this year, according to Dealogic. As a result, UBS gets to cover itself in glory without - since pricing is partly dictated by regulators - opening itself to accusations of leaving too much on the table. Less happily, Western Mining also highlights the yawning gap between A-shares and hard-currency H-shares listed in Hong Kong. There are some 40 Chinese enterprises that boast dual listings, and the simple average premium on the former is close to 100 per cent. It is far too early, however, for A-share holders to start fretting about moves by policy makers and others to close the gap. Several measures are on the table. On Beijing's side, these include increasing the quota for foreign investment into A-shares and facilitating ownership of overseas equities by domestic investors. There are also plans to increase the number of dual-listed companies. China Mobile, the biggest red chip, or Hong Kong-incorporated mainland company, plans to supplement its listing in the territory with a Shanghai offering. Going further still, officials on both sides of the border are mulling the possibility of joint trading on both exchanges, while a new index will track the differential between A and H-shares. Morphing these initiatives into an ability to arbitrage away the differential, however, is still tricky, so long as capital controls persist and short-selling is curbed. For now, the China premium looks safe - as does the ability to underwrite trophy IPOs. |