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A few large deals helped propel Morgan Stanley to the top spot among
underwriters for initial public offerings in the first half of 2010.
The Wall Street bank, which rose from its No. 3 spot last year at this time,
underwrote 36 deals with estimated proceeds of US$5.9 billion in the first six
months, more than eight times what it hauled in from the deals a year earlier,
according to Thomson Reuters data at the close of United States markets on
Tuesday.
Much of the IPO activity in the first half came from Asia, which bankers say
is still a good bet for growth despite wobbly markets, and which accounted for
six of the 10 largest deals.
Japan's US$11.16 billion Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co and South Korea's US$4.41
billion Samsung Life Insurance Co were the largest IPOs.
Fears that Europe's debt crisis could spread have increased market volatility
and weighed on new issues, scaring some investors away from smaller, less liquid
flotations. Many IPOs were pulled during the quarter due to these fears. Large
offerings, however, were able to plod along.
"I think what you will find is that these very large companies do have
reasonable comps that they can be measured against, and therefore the confidence
that the deals will work is higher," said Deutsche Bank co-head of global equity
capital markets Mark Hantho.
While IPO league table status does not track how the stocks perform in the
aftermarket, they give bragging rights to the banks and bankers involved. The
table does also indicate what banks are doing good business, as IPOs in most
regions pay underwriters a hefty fee for their work.
China, whose stocks are among the worst globally so far in 2010, took three
of the top 10 global spots.
That excludes the July IPO of the Agricultural Bank of China, which aims to
raise up to US$24.5 billion, including overallotments, making it the largest IPO
ever if it hits that target.
Among the first half Chinese deals were mid-sized brokerage Huatai
Securities, fetching US$2.3 billion, and China First Heavy Industries, the
mainland's biggest heavy equipment maker, raising US$1.7
billion. |
