香港IPO日益依賴基石投資者

Cornerstone investors have accounted for almost half of new listings in Hong Kong this year — a record level that bankers fear is distorting prices and undermining the credibility of one of the world’s leading equity capital centres.

基石投資者在香港今年以來的新股發行中佔了近一半的分量，銀行家們擔心，這種創紀錄水平的比重正在扭曲股票價格，削弱世界領先股權資本中心之一的信譽。

The investors, who accept six-month lock-ups in return for large allocations, have taken 46 per cent of the $9.7bn equity on offer through initial public offerings so far this year, according to Dealogic.

基石投資者接受六個月的禁售期以換取較大數額的股票分配。Dealogic的數據顯示，此類投資者在今年迄今首次公開發行(IPO)的97億美元籌資總額中佔了46%。

That ratio is set to rise above 50 per cent for the first time with the $8bn float next month of Postal Savings Bank of China, the world’s biggest IPO for 2016 to date.

下月中國郵政儲蓄銀行(Postal Savings Bank of China)赴香港上市擬融資80億美元，這將是2016年迄今世界最大IPO，屆時上述比例勢必將首次升至50%以上。

Between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the offering is expected to be allocated to cornerstones by the time the deal launches.

預計在此次上市啓動時，60%至80%將分配給基石投資者。

Hong Kong’s increasing reliance on cornerstones, which began as a way of using marquee name investors to generate interest in new listings, has increasingly morphed into a form of reducing risk that a deal fails, bankers say.

銀行家們表示，香港對基石投資者越來越依賴，已使這種方式日益演變成一種降低交易失敗風險的形式。當初金字招牌投資者只是被用來激起對新股發行的興趣。

The practice became more common after the $22bn float in 2010 of Agricultural Bank of China, then the world’s biggest.

這種做法在2010年中國農業銀行(Agricultural Bank of China)進行220億美元上市——那時是史上最大IPO——後變得更爲普遍。

The deal, which launched in rocky markets, was buoyed by $5.5bn of cornerstones but the overall amount of equity locked up that year totalled just 15 per cent.

那筆交易在動盪的市場上啓動，得到基石投資者55億美元的提振，但該年禁售的股票僅佔總量的15%。

Last year two-fifths of the IPO equity on offer in Hong Kong went to cornerstones.

去年在香港進行的IPO有五分之二股票被分配給基石投資者。

Strip tied-up funds out of this year’s deals to date, and the Hong Kong Exchange drops from first place to fourth in terms of capital raising, behind New York Stock Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

若剔除今年迄今在上市交易中被鎖定的資本，香港交易所(HKEx)在籌資排行榜上將從第一位降至第四位，落後於紐約證券交易所(New York Stock Exchange)、上海證券交易所(Shanghai Stock Exchange)和納斯達克(Nasdaq)。

In June, CDB Leasing set a new record for Hong Kong with 78 per cent of its $810m float going to cornerstones, leaving the 13 banks on the deal to find just $182m of investment.

6月份，國銀租賃(CDB Leasing)在香港創下新的紀錄，其8.10億美元的IPO有78%被分配給基石投資者，使參與這筆交易的13家銀行只需招徠1.82億美元投資。

Everbright Securities, which listed this month in a $1.1bn deal, is second with 67 per cent.

本月進行了11億美元上市的光大證券(Everbright Securities)排在第二位，有67%被分配給基石投資者。

We all know that sometimes, especially if it’s an SOE [state-owned enterprise], getting the deal done can be more important than how it gets done, said one equity head for an international bank.

我們都知道，有時，完成交易可能比具體交易方式更重要，特別是對於一家國有企業，某跨國銀行的一名股權業務主管表示。

I don’t think that having 70 per cent-plus cornerstone tranches is really healthy for the market.

我不認爲70%以上的基石分配比例對市場是真正健康的。

Bankers are not prepared to comment publicly because IPOs are a large part of their business.

銀行家們不準備公開評論，因爲上市是其很大一塊業務。

Chinese deals, particularly the floats of SOEs, have been one of the biggest and steadiest sources of revenue in the region.

中國內地企業，尤其是國有企業的上市，一直是香港股市最大和最穩定的營收來源之一。

While equity capital markets make up about a quarter of the fee pool globally for investment banks, it accounts for two-fifths in Asia where cut-throat competition has reduced fees to a fraction of those generated on US IPOs.

全球而言，股權資本市場佔投行業務報酬的大約四分之一，但在亞洲這個比例達到五分之二，與此同時激烈競爭把費用壓低至只有美國IPO的一小部分。

One equity trading head described a lot of the recent floats as almost dormant in the secondary market as a result of cornerstone holdings.

一名股票交易主管稱，基石投資者的持股造成很多新近上市的股票在二級市場幾乎處於休眠狀態。

Structurally it is a problem for Hong Kong and it has been that way for a while with these club deals, he added.

結構上，這對香港是一個問題。由於這些俱樂部交易，一段時間以來一直是這種情況，他補充說。

The lack of liquidity created by the large lock-ups has subdued trading in the stocks while also creating an overhang on potential gains, bankers said.

銀行家們表示，大量股票禁售所導致的流動性不足，抑制了相關股票的交投，同時也拖累了潛在的漲幅。

None of Hong Kong’s six IPOs this year of more than $500m have registered a first-day gain.

今年在香港進行的融資5億美元以上的六筆IPO交易中，沒有一隻新股在首日出現漲幅。

In New York, meanwhile, only two of its seven equivalent deals fell on launch with the smallest gain on the others being 5 per cent.

而在紐約，七筆此類規模IPO中，只有兩隻新股的股價在首日下降，其餘新股的首日漲幅至少爲5%。

In 2015, a review by the Hong Kong Exchange’s Listing Committee, which vets all IPOs, concluded that it was not clear that cornerstones narrowed the shareholder base or reduced liquidity.

2015年，負責審查所有IPO的香港交易所上市委員會(Listing Committee)在進行審議後得出結論，不能明確認爲基石投資者導致股東基礎狹窄或者導致流動性減少。

The committee decided that no additional regulation is warranted at this stage but nonetheless the exchange will continue to monitor developments in this area, the exchange said.

委員會決定，現階段沒有理由出臺額外法規，但是本交易所將繼續監督這方面的發展，香港交易所表示。