新冠疫情爆发以来的几周时间里，中国及周边地区的商业活动都受到了极大影响，首次公开发行（IPO）也不例外。
今年年初，中国香港特别行政区的资本市场活动呈现一派繁荣景象——仅在1月份就有22家公司通过IPO筹集了85亿港元（11亿美元），较2019年同期增长了102％——但到了2月份，据《南华早报》报道，几乎没有新股上市。
Dealogic的数据显示，截至2月11日，在中国内地，共有48家企业为上市定价，筹集了100亿美元的资金，与去年同期相比，分别增长了一倍多和300％。但这些上市活动大多发生在农历新年假期之前的三周，当时中国尚未全面受到新冠疫情的影响。而从农历新年假期开始，每周的上市数量下降到了个位数。
由于旅行被完全禁止（或者在很大程度上受到阻碍），IPO过程中的主要参与者无法履行职责——银行家无法面对面进行谈判，保荐人无法进行尽职调查，会计师无法进行现场检查和审计——导致IPO计划被打乱。
旅行禁令也影响到投资者会议，尤其是如果上市申请人的管理层位于中国，这可能至少会导致某些交易时间表推迟，年利达律师事务所的公司业务合伙人李承轩（Gilbert Li）律师补充道。
香港等地的监管机构还要求希望上市的企业说明新冠疫情对企业的潜在影响，这令IPO变得更加困难。
“香港监管机构非常关注疫情对上市申请人业务运作的影响。上市申请人及其保荐人需要进行额外的尽职调查和分析，以严格评估疫情所造成的影响，以便在招股说明书中进行适当披露。”李律师说。
在目前的情况下，上市申请人需要了解，他们有法律义务确保其招股说明书中包含足够的信息，使潜在的投资者能够对上市申请人及其业务作出明智的评估，李律师对客户建议道。
尽管出现了暂时的放缓，但李律师认为有几家公司将会按计划推进上市，他对此充满希望。“大多数上市申请人不会仅根据时间表来决定上市地点。还有更重要的因素需要考虑，例如估值、投资者群体和监管框架，”他说。
而且已经出现了一些积极的迹象。据报道，中国人工智能公司北京旷视科技有限公司（Megvii Technology）正在计划重新提交其5亿美元的香港IPO申请，此前由于疫情导致延误，其最初的申请被搁置了。“我们预计至少会有一些交易时间表会被推迟，但从中长期来看，我们持相对乐观的态度。一旦疫情形势得到控制，这些（IPO）相关的交易往往很快就会反弹，”李律师说。
COVID-19 slows China IPOs to a trickle, but there is hope for a quick rebound
In the weeks since the world got to first hear about the coronavirus outbreak in China, business activity in and around the country has been greatly affected, with initial public offerings being no different.
Capital market activity in Hong Kong started with a bang – in January, 22 companies raised HK$8.5 billion ($1.1 billion) through IPOs, up 102 percent from the same month in 2019 – but by February, the flow of new listings had all but dried up, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
In mainland China, 48 companies had priced listings as of Feb. 11, with $10 billion of funds raised, according to Dealogic, the numbers being up more than double and 300 percent compared to the same period last year, respectively. However, the bulk of those listings happened in the three weeks leading to the Lunar New Year holiday, when China felt the full impact of the coronavirus. Since then, the number of weekly listings was down to single digits.
With travel being banned outright – if not heavily discouraged – IPO schedules have been disrupted as key players in the process are unable to perform their duties: Bankers cannot meet face-to-face for negotiations, sponsors are unable to conduct due diligence, and accountants have no way of carrying out site inspections and audits.
Gilbert Li, a corporate partner at Linklaters adds that the travel bans are also impacting investor meetings, especially if the management of the listing applicants are based in China which will probably result in delay in at least some deal timetables.
To make it more difficult for IPO hopefuls, regulators like Hong Kong’s want them to spell out the potential effect of the coronavirus on their business.
“Hong Kong regulators are focusing on the impact of the outbreak on the business operation of the listing applicants,” says Li. “Listing applicants and their sponsors are conducting additional due diligence and analysis to critically assess the impact such that appropriate disclosure can be made in the prospectus.”
Li says that in the present scenario, he advises client to understand that it is the legal obligation of a listing applicant to ensure that its prospectus contains sufficient information to enable potential investors to make an informed assessment of the listing applicant and its business.
Despite the temporary slowdown, Li is hopeful that several companies will still push with their planned listings as scheduled. “Most listing applicants don’t make listing venue decisions based on timetable alone. There are much more important factors such as valuation, investor base and regulatory framework,” he says.
And there are promising signs. Chinese artificial intelligence company Megvii Technology is reportedly planning to resubmit its application for a $500 million Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), after its original application lapsed earlier because of coronavirus delays. “We expect a delay in at least some deal timetables, but we are relatively optimistic in the medium to long term. These things tend to bounce back pretty quickly once the situation is under control,” Li says.
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