The growing IPO appetite

Over the past week, the already buoyant equity capital market activity for issuers in Asia (excluding Japan) continued its momentum with the launch of four record-breaking initial public offerings (IPOs) in Australia, India, Malaysia and Singapore, with combined proceeds of $17.8 billion. Year-to-date IPO volumes for Asia (excluding Japan) total $97.2 billion from 548 issues, up 165% from the same period in 2009 that saw IPO proceeds of only $36.6 billion.