Published : 11 years ago, on 17/01/2014

Taking the fore in Hong Kong’s continuing market rally, Morrison & Foerster this week completed the first three IPOs of 2014 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The trio of offerings, worth an aggregate of nearly HK$1.32 billion, is strong evidence that the surge in Hong Kong financial market activity that began in the fourth quarter of last year will continue into 2014.

Ven Tan

“The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is off to a strong start and well could be on the verge of an extraordinary year,” said Ven Tan, Managing Partner of Morrison & Foerster’s Hong Kong office and one of Asia’s leading capital markets lawyers. As the first three deals of 2014 suggest, our team, with its long track record of successful offerings and deep bench of capital markets talent, is well-positioned for what we see from our current pipelines of new deals as an accelerating market surge.”

Mr. Tan was lead counsel on two of the first three offerings of 2014. He represented longstanding firm clients CCB International Capital Limited (CCBI) and Bank of China International (BOCI) in the HK$432 million IPO by menswear apparel company Fujian Nouqi, the first listing of 2014, on January 9, and he also represented CCBI and China Galaxy Securities in the HK$420 million IPO of Miko International Holdings, a retailer of children’s apparel, which listed on January 15 and was more than 1,000 times oversubscribed, making it one of the most heavily subscribed IPOs in the history of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Morrison & Foerster Hong Kong partner Gregory Wang led the third IPO, representing another firm client BOCOM International Securities Limited (BOCOM) in the HK$470 million IPO by nutritional supplement maker Nanjing Sinolife United, which also listed on January 15.

Companies raised US$21 billion from IPOs in Hong Kong in 2013, up from US$11.5 billion in 2012, putting the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in second place behind the New York Stock Exchange in IPO volume for the year, according to The Wall Street Journal. This is the second year in a row that Morrison & Foerster has been first out of the IPO gate in Hong Kong. The firm, which last year celebrated its 30th anniversary in Hong Kong and has one of the strongest and most successful capital markets practices of any firm in the region, represented Golden Wheel Tiandi in the first major Hong Kong IPO in 2013, raising HK$760 million. In 2013, the firm also represented BOCI, HSBC, BNP and UBS in the RMB600 million high yield bond deal by Golden Wheel Tiandi; CICC, Morgan Stanley and UBS in the US$515 million secondary offering by H share listed Sinopharm, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and BOCI as placing agents for Evergrande Real Estate’s HK$3.45 billion top-up placement; and China Zhengtong Auto in its US$335 million credit enhanced bond offering, China’s first offshore credit enhanced bond offering by a private sector  issuer with a standby letter of credit support from Bank of China, which is expected to open the market for private sector Chinese companies looking to the international bond market.

Morrison & Foerster is recognized as a leading firm across Asia by the most respected industry guides. We are consistently ranked as a leading capital markets practice in Hong Kong and China by all leading ranking publications Chambers Asia, IFLR and Asia-Pacific Legal 500. Chambers Asia also rates our China M&A practice among the nation’s “Elite,” and our pre-eminent technology transactions practice is recognized by Asia-Pacific Legal 500 in the top tier for Technology, Media and Telecommunications for both Hong Kong and China.