虽然今年上半年有许多企业延迟上市香港IPO， 但资本市场律师认为工作量并没有减少， 而且因延长法律顾问代表时期而增加了收费工时。

Hong Kong’s IPO market, the biggest in the world in 2009, seems to have hit the brakes, in recent months, with several companies shelving their IPOs due to a lack of investor interest.

The month of May saw two major Hong Kong IPOs being shelved – Swire Pacific pulled its US$2.7bn plan to spin-off its property unit and Giti Tyre, the largest tyre manufacturer in China, also decided to hold-off on its US$500m offering despite it being its second attempt to get its IPO off the ground. In June, Chinese wind-turbine maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology also decided to shelve its US$1.2bn offering because of volatile market conditions. 

Despite what seems like gloomy uncertainties underlying the IPO market, lawyers have noted an increased workload that stems from it – If pre-IPO investigations suggest that potential returns might not “live up to expectations”, companies will usually choose to list at a later time. Albeit being delayed, the project is considered “ongoing” and lawyers can therefore expect more billable hours and a longer term of representation, even in different practice areas.

“In this time, clients will usually seek out other business endeavours like acquiring smaller competitors or make pre-IPO investments to build their business portfolio so as to better qualify in the future,” said Wayne Chen, partner and head of capital markets at Llinks. It is good news for existing IPO advisors as they would usually also enjoy mandates in these transactions.

DLA Piper’s Leung agrees that only more work comes out of a delayed IPO. “When clients finally decide to list, we need to update respective prospectuses. There are also a lot more documents to execute if a new listing hearing is required,” said Leung. ALB

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