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HONG KONG: China International Capital Corporation (CICC) has broken into the world's top two investment banks for new listings for the first time since the global financial crisis due to its role leading in fintech giant Ant Group's mega float, Dealogic figures show.
League tables published on Monday distributing credit for the Ant deal has pushed CICC into the top tier of investment banks working on IPOs and secondary listings around the world.
CICC, ranked fifth globally before Ant so far this year, is now second behind Credit Suisse, according to the figures.
The market share figures came as CICC's stock started trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday after the bank raised US$2 billion (RM4.3 billion) in a secondary listing in its own share offering to fund expansion plans.
CICC is a sponsor on both the Shanghai and Hong Kong legs of the Ant IPO, set to be the world's largest, that has raised up to US$37 billion which includes an already exercised greenshoe option for the mainland portion of the deal.
Goldman Sachs is now ranked third on the global listings league table, followed by Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, the data shows.
The Ant IPO has prompted a reshuffle of the bank rankings in Hong Kong.
CICC retained its top ranking but increased its market share to 11% from 9% while only two western banks remain in the top 10.
Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, two sponsors of Ant's Hong Kong legs, are ranked eighth and ninth, while the remaining top 10 spots are taken by Chinese institutions.
Ant Group will pay the 24 banks which underwrote the Hong Kong leg of the deal up to US$198 million in fees, if the 15% greenshoe is exercised.
The fees equate to 1% of the IPO's proceeds which is considered low compared with most deals in the Asian financial hub.
CICC surged 33% in its debut on the Shanghai stock exchange on Monday as investors bet the country's fifth-biggest securities firm will benefit from a government push to accelerate capital market reforms.
Its shares rose as much as 44%, the limit allowed for debuts on Shanghai's main board, although they later pared gains to stand at 37.7 yuan. Even so, its Shanghai shares are currently trading at a premium of 144% to its Hong Kong-listed shares.
Companies which have dual listings for Hong Kong and Shanghai will typically see a very large premium for their shares in Shanghai, where trade is dominated by retail investors. The current average premium is 44%.
CICC said in a statement on Monday it will solidify its strength in investment banking and trading, while ramping up growth for its wealth management business.
It was established in 1995 as China's first investment banking joint venture with a foreign firm, counting Morgan Stanley as a major shareholder. Morgan Stanley exited CICC in 2010. – Reuters
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