FUNDRAISING activities will continue in South-East Asia as the economies in the region recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

       There was a rise in new initial public offerings (IPOs) in the first half (H1) of 2021 and the trend will continue into the second half.Deloitte is betting that the IPO market in South-East Asia will continue to attract new and exciting large-capitalised companies with high valuations.

       It also expects renewed interest in special purpose acquisition company or SPAC listings. The rationale being that SPAC offers a faster alternative to raise capital compared with traditional IPOs.

       It says a number of technology-based start-ups are seeking SPAC mergers in the capital markets in the United States.

       On IPOs, Malaysia saw 13 new IPOs in H1, raising RM395mil with an IPO market capitalisation of RM1.5bil on Bursa Malaysia.

       That was a 102% rise in funds raised compared to H1’2020, where only seven IPOs were listed, raising RM196mil in proceeds that had an IPO market capitalisation of RM0.85bil.

       During the same period there were 59 IPOs in South-East Asia that raised US$5.97bil (RM25bil).

       The top performing country, and still a darling of stock market investors, is Thailand, which raised US$3.3bil representing about 55% of the total amount raised in IPOs across South-East Asia in H1’2021.

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