NYSE Official: Chinese Companies Reviving US Listing Plans
May 21 2009 - 5:35AM
Dow Jones News
Chinese companies are reviving plans to list in the U.S. after
putting their initial public offerings on hold due to the financial
crisis, Michael Yang, chief representative of the New York Stock
Exchange's Beijing office, said Thursday.
"Many companies have resumed or kicked off their IPO process in
the past few weeks because they see the situation in the secondary
market is quite good," Yang said.
Last year, only four Chinese companies listed shares in the
U.S., down sharply from 30 IPOs in 2007, he said.
While no Chinese companies listed in the U.S. in the first
quarter this year, the picture improved in April with online gaming
company Changyou.com Ltd.'s (CYOU) Nasdaq listing.
"In April the situation changed a lot," Yang said, adding two
U.S. education companies and a U.S. technology firm also listed
last month. "The situation is much better than three months
ago."
The operator of the Nasdaq Stock Market, which has also seen a
falloff in new listings amid depressed market sentiment, said last
week it expects a slight rebound in listings from China on U.S.
exchanges.
Robert McCooey, senior vice president of new listings and
capital markets at Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ), said he expects
about 20 Chinese companies to list in the next 12 months on both
Nasdaq and the NYSE.
No IPOs have taken place in China since September 2008.
Regulators are working on revamping listing rules for the main
board and are finalizing listing rules for the new Growth
Enterprise Market in Shenzhen.
-By Patricia Jiayi Ho, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 6588 5848;
patricia.ho@dowjones.com