Businesses in mainland China have become substantially less confident about going public, but are still more positive than those in Hong Kong.
According to the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report, the percentage of privately-held PRC businesses planning a public listing within the next three years dropped from 60% in 2008 to 11% this year. The figure was 20% last year. (In Hong Kong, the number stands at 5% in 2010, down from 12% and 22% in 2009 and 2008, respectively.)
Specialists agree that this sharp drop is due mainly to the recent global economic downturn, but add that other factors have intensified market pessimism. Antony Dapiran, a partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Beijing, pointed out that there are now fewer...
Please login or register below to read this article.