Asia-Pacific IPO: LG Energy Solution’s W12.8trn IPO

The float of the developer of advanced driver-assistance systems marked a return to market after a five-year absence with little change in the equity story since its previous IPO in 2014. Many of the same investors that backed Mobileye in 2014 came back to support its return to public markets, said David Ludwig, global head of ECM at Goldman Sachs (who worked on both IPOs). “The story is very similar [to when it first went public]. They are a market leader in ADAS technology and they should have a relevant role in autonomous [vehicles],”...

Canadian uranium miner Cameco smoothly executed a US$748m block trade in October to partly fund its joint US$7.9bn purchase (with Brookfield Renewable Partners) of nuclear services firm Westinghouse Electric, an acquisition analysts described as the most significant transaction in the nuclear industry in more than a decade. The Westinghouse acquisition promises to transform Cameco into a leader across the nuclear fuel cycle, adding a nuclear reactor engineering and services business to its existing uranium mining and milling operations....

Latin America has long been viewed as a growth centre for ECM, fixated on fixed income for so long, the region is in its infancy in the development of ownership. The growth spurt of recent years was stunted in 2022 by surging interest rates needed to combat high inflation, with commodity exposure leading to tightening sooner than other regions. BTG Pactual managed to convince equity investors to commit capital despite the Brazilian central bank hiking lending to an eye-popping 13.75%, a dramatic increase from the 2% rate in early 2021 that...

The sale, which saw the government diluted to a 40.3% minority ownership, had been in the works since the early 1990s. "We knew it would be a challenge for us to attract new investors because our story was so complex and we were a government-owned entity," said Eletrobras CFO Elvira Presta. "I personally conducted over 300 one-on-one meetings to educate investors about our new business model. "On some days, there were seven meetings." Shares were sold by Eletrobras and Brazil's development bank BNDES at R$42, a 4.6% file-to-offer discount, with...

Covid had been expected to upend the rankings in EMEA equity capital markets in 2020, as corporates turned to their lenders to raise cash quickly. Yet the US banks that dominate the region barely gave up ground, and the boom in IPOs in 2021 again put the Americans in control. The much-anticipated realignment finally came in 2022 as European activity slowed to a snail’s pace and the Middle East came of age with jumbo deals. HSBC’s long presence in the region gave it a head start on its rivals and the bank capitalised on it to the extent that...

Yet Porsche completed the largest IPO in Europe since 2011 without a hint of a misfire. “The decision by the VW supervisory board to move ahead with the preparation of a potential IPO coincided with the first day of the conflict in Ukraine. Of course we had to monitor the market environment closely to identify the right timing for the transaction. But VW was convinced on the rationale to take the company independent," said Bjoern Scheib, head of investor relations at Porsche. "To successfully accomplish the IPO in this challenging...

There were so few good opportunities to sell in 2022 that in many cases deals never happened and remain on the block for 2023. Sampo had already executed four sales on its way towards the exit and the seller wasn't put off by the VIX hovering around 30 when it came to market in April. The Finnish insurer was the largest shareholder in the Nordic bank when it sold 4% in November 2020, followed by further sales in 2021 of 4% in May, 1.8% in September and 4% in October. A couple more trades were planned, with half of the 5.2% stake initially...

UBS led the way in 2022, securing key roles on the biggest capital raisings of the year and showing its strength across a mix of markets and products. Equity fundraising activity in Asia-Pacific tumbled, but there were bright spots. Issuers from China accounted for two-thirds of activity, and A-share markets contributed most of the volume, meaning an onshore presence was critical. UBS picked up US$9.9bn of league table credit through 53 transactions and was the best performing foreign bank, according to Refinitiv data. UBS, through its joint...

CATL’s successful follow-on highlighted the kind of global interest a top-quality A-share listed company can attract despite challenging market conditions. It also showed China’s equity investment channel for foreign investors could accommodate huge demand, paving the way for more mainland-listed companies to follow. The deal, the largest ever A-share marketed follow-on and the largest follow-on globally in 2022, hit the market in June when global stock markets were weighed down by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s sharp economic slowdown...