India and the Middle East - the new hotspots in the IPO market

Initial public offerings (IPOs) in dollars and Indian rupees in 2024 accounted for 56% of primary equity issuances, highlighting the growing importance of the Indian capital markets, alongside traditional US venues, shows an analysis by globaltrading.net.

According to the cited source, the IPO landscape reflects broader changes in global capital markets, with European financial centers increasingly sharing the "spotlight" with emerging markets, especially India and the Middle East.

Nasdaq US - with its various platforms - was the main venue for IPOs last year, ahead of the National Stock Exchange in India, followed by the New York Stock Exchange (New York Stock Exchange) and Hong Kong. European exchanges have seen significantly less activity compared with Middle Eastern markets - Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, which together raised $12 billion, more than the total euro issuances from all European exchanges, according to Bloomberg data.

The $3.3 billion IPO of carmaker Hyundai Motor India, completed in October, was the biggest deal of the year in India, where the total issuances of $22.7 billion were mostly by smaller companies. Two other listings in India that exceeded $1 billion were Swiggy Ltd. and NTPC Green Energy Ltd.

In Europe, SIX Group attracted $5.5 billion in issuances with two deals, Galderma in Switzerland and Puig Brands in Spain. Home Furnishings Group Midea raised $4.6 billion in Hong Kong, a large part of the territory's total issuances of $11.5 billion.

The market showed seasonal strength in the September-November period, although no single industry dominated issuance. Diversified holdings and real estate investment trusts (REITs) were the most active sectors, although they represented only a small portion of total activity, according to the source.

• Morgan Stanley - 2024 underwriter of the year

In the rankings compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), investment bank Morgan Stanley climbed from 15th in 2023 to first among underwriters last year, supported by its lead roles in the Reddit and Astera Labs offerings, which amounted to $748 million and $774 million, respectively. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs improved their positions in the rankings, securing their second and third positions. A notable participant that shows how good 2024 has been for Indian equity issues was Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., which ranked 10th in the list of underwriters, while Chinese banks suffered from the weak domestic market performance last year. China Securities jumped from second place in 2023 to 25th in 2024.

• LG readies India unit IPO

South Korean conglomerate LG Electronics Inc. is considering raising the valuation of its India unit to as much as $15 billion in a planned listing in Mumbai this year, following initial feedback from analysts and investors, according to sources cited by Bloomberg in December 2024.

LG Electronics plans to start a formal roadshow for the initial public offering (IPO) of LG Electronics India Pvt. in the next two months and is targeting a listing in the first half of 2025, the sources said. The company had previously projected a valuation of about $13 billion, Bloomberg News reported in September.

LG has shown preliminary interest from potential investors, according to the people, who said the talks are ongoing and details could change. LG may ultimately target a lower valuation for the deal, based on final demand, one of the people said.

In early December, LG filed a draft prospectus for the offering with Indian regulators, detailing plans to sell up to 101.82 million shares, none of which will be new. Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Axis Capital Ltd., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. will manage the IPO.