China's market researcher Zero2IPO Group released a report on Monday that summarized the market performance in 2008, including cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A), initial public offerings (IPOs), private equinity (PE) and venture capitals (VC).

Cross-border M&A

China's cross-border M&A activity in 2008 remained active, though it dropped by 30 percent year-on-year in terms of transaction amount, according to the report.

Cross-border acquisition activities in China amounted to about US$13 billion last year. The M&A in two industries, media and telecom (TMT) and energy, hit the highest levels in history, with US$20.23 billion and US$7.8 billion, respectively.

"Some companies had a wait-and-see attitude in 2008, since there are still many uncertainties in the market. So some new deals are likely to show this year," said Zheng Xingguo, vice president with Zero2IPO Group.

The report predicted that the energy industry would remain an important field in cross-border M&A for a long period, since the domestic economy relies on those resources.

IPO market

Activity in initial public offerings has fallen to a three-year low in China, according to the report.

The amount of money raised by Chinese companies in 2008 through IPOs fell about 79.2 percent over the previous year to US$21.8 billion, the report said.

The numbers of IPOs and total capital raised also touched three-year lows, falling 53.3 percent and 79.2 percent respectively year-on-year.

In overseas markets, the number of Chinese IPOs dropped from 118 in 2007 to 37 last year, with capital raised falling 82.6 percent to US$6.922 billion.

In the domestic market, the number of IPOs fell from 124 in 2007 to 76 last year, with capital raised dropping about 77.1 percent to US$14.91 billion.

VC & PE

Venture capital (VC) investment in the Chinese mainland hit its highest level in 2008 to reach US$7.31 billion, up 33.3 percent over a year earlier, while PE funds raised about $61.15 billion capital in the same period, up 71.9 percent year-on-year, the report said.

According to the report, 81 VC companies from home and abroad raised 116 funds in China's mainland last year, doubling the fund number from 2007.

The report pointed out that renminbi funds were quite active last year, accounting for 33.1 percent of total investment by VC and 34.9 percent of total capital raised by PE funds.

"In 2008, China relaxed the limitation on equity investment by brokerages, insurance companies and asset management institutions, which made renminbi funds quite active," Zheng said.

The existing options for PE funds include IPOs, share deductions after listing and M&As. Due to the sluggish stock market, only 24 PE fund deals were transacted in 2008, dropping by 74.5 percent over 2007. Only 43 VC projects in China got money back through the IPO market, with the number dropping by 57 percent from 2007.

(China Daily January 20, 2009)