Southeast Asian firms raised $7.6 billion through 163 IPOs last 12 months, 43% lower than the record $13.3 billion raised through 152 IPOs in 2021, in keeping with data compiled by Deloitte. While the variety of IPOs increased in 2022, the overall amounts raised decreased, indicating that many small offerings took place this 12 months.
This is because smaller firms proceed to launch their IPOs despite the present economic uncertainty, while larger firms with greater leverage are delaying their IPOs while waiting for market conditions to enhance.
The Covid-19 epidemic stimulated an influx of recent retail investors concerned with IPOs, leading to a world market boom in 2021, with a record amount of funds raised within the United States and the United Kingdom. Southeast Asian capital markets also had a successful 2021, but progress stalled in 2022, although the region weathered the crisis marginally higher than the United States and the United Kingdom, recording a revenue decline of 43% in comparison with 95% and a corresponding decline 89%.
Tay Hwee Ling, leader of Deloitte’s Southeast Asia and Singapore Disruptive Event Advisory, said: “As the world wins its fight against the pandemic, the reopening of world economies and borders has pushed global inflation up from 4.7% in to eight.8% in 2022, in addition to an almost 4% increase within the federal rate of interest for the total 12 months.”
Ling said: “Despite these macroeconomic issues, the Southeast Asian IPO market is performing quite well and we proceed to see growth opportunities in our economies.”
In 2022, Thailand saw 42 initial public offerings (IPOs), raising a complete of $3.6 billion, essentially the most of any exchange in Southeast Asia. Following the comfort of stringent Covid-19 regulations, roughly ninety percent of capital raising occurred within the second half of the 12 months. The amount raised was comparable to amounts raised in 2017–2019 (about $3 billion annually), likely indicating a return to pre-pandemic levels. In the extraordinary epidemic years of 2020 and 2021, greater than $4 billion was raised annually.
Last 12 months, 59 IPOs in Indonesia raised $2.4 billion, maintaining its position as one among the 2 largest IPO markets in Southeast Asia. In 2022, PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GoTo) brought in $1.1 billion of that total, putting it at the highest of the regional leaderboard. In second place was PT Global Digital Niaga Tbk (BliBli), which raised USD 508 million. GoTo and BliBli join a growing variety of Indonesian technology firms which have gone public lately.
Last 12 months, the Philippines hosted eight IPOs, raising a complete of $352 million. Citicore Energy REIT Corp has raised $124 million in the most important public offering this 12 months, making it the primary energy-focused real estate investment trust (REIT) within the United States.
In 2022, the Malaysian IPO market raised $801 million, up 138% year-on-year. This growth resulted from the need to own firms with strong fundamentals. Notably, the variety of listings on the ACE exchange greater than doubled from 11 in 2021 to 26 last 12 months, which is remarkable considering the present economic scenario.
In 2022, eleven Singapore IPOs raised $428 million, with three special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listings raising $389 million and eight Catalist IPOs raising $39 million. The SPAC framework developed in Singapore about two years ago is off to a promising start. In Singapore, SPACs have 24 months to delist, with the choice to use for a 12-month extension. Successful de-SPACs are expected to spur additional SPAC listings.
Regarding the general outlook for the Southeast Asia market in 2023, Ling said: “When the area emerges from the epidemic mentality, there will still be opportunities for rapid development in Southeast Asia. Even though valuations of IT companies are currently lower overall, those with excellent business fundamentals will still be able to achieve optimal market valuation and benefit from capital markets.”
