Pyramid IPOs on the Chinese Growth Enterprise Market

April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

Pyramid IPOs on the Chinese Growth Enterprise Market

Martin Holmen University of Gothenburg – Department of Economics; Göteborg University – Centre for Finance; Hanken School of Economics

Peng Wang Hanken School of Economics

March 7, 2013

Abstract: 
This paper investigates Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of high-tech firms on the Chinese Growth Enterprise Market (GEM). Almost half of the high tech IPOs on the GEM are set up in pyramid structures. The likelihood of a pyramid structure increases with the size of the IPO firm and state control. Our results do not suggest that pyramids are set up to overcome financial constraints. However, we document that pyramid IPOs are discounted before the IPO. The price to book ratio estimated at the subscription price is significantly lower for pyramid IPOs compared to stand-alone IPOs. Furthermore, the underpricing is higher and the oversubscription is lower for pyramid IPOs. We conclude that IPO investors are reluctant to invest in pyramid firms and demand a higher risk-premium which translates into a lower subscription price and higher underpricing.

Filed under Research

About bambooinnovator
Kee Koon Boon (“KB”) is the co-founder and director of HERO Investment Management which provides specialized fund management and investment advisory services to the ARCHEA Asia HERO Innovators Fund (www.heroinnovator.com), the only Asian SMID-cap tech-focused fund in the industry. KB is an internationally featured investor rooted in the principles of value investing for over a decade as a fund manager and analyst in the Asian capital markets who started his career at a boutique hedge fund in Singapore where he was with the firm since 2002 and was also part of the core investment committee in significantly outperforming the index in the 10-year-plus-old flagship Asian fund. He was also the portfolio manager for Asia-Pacific equities at Korea’s largest mutual fund company. Prior to setting up the H.E.R.O. Innovators Fund, KB was the Chief Investment Officer & CEO of a Singapore Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) where he is responsible for listed Asian equity investments. KB had taught accounting at the Singapore Management University (SMU) as a faculty member and also pioneered the 15-week course on Accounting Fraud in Asia as an official module at SMU. KB remains grateful and honored to be invited by Singapore’s financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to present to their top management team about implementing a world’s first fact-based forward-looking fraud detection framework to bring about benefits for the capital markets in Singapore and for the public and investment community. KB also served the community in sharing his insights in writing articles about value investing and corporate governance in the media that include Business Times, Straits Times, Jakarta Post, Manual of Ideas, Investopedia, TedXWallStreet. He had also presented in top investment, banking and finance conferences in America, Italy, Sydney, Cape Town, HK, China. He has trained CEOs, entrepreneurs, CFOs, management executives in business strategy & business model innovation in Singapore, HK and China.

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