HANOI — Vietnam has leapt to become Southeast Asia’s top grossing market for initial public offerings in 2018 with total proceeds of US$2.6 billion.
Singapore, who lost its crown to Vietnam, retreated to fourth position this year with total IPO value of just $500 million. Thailand ranked second with total proceeds of $2.5 billion and Indonesia was in the third place with $1.2 billion, data from global consultant firm Ernst and Young (EY) showed.
Vietnam’s rise was attributed to large IPO deals in the country as its Government pushed ahead with equitisation of big State-owned corporations.
The five biggest IPOs of State-owned enterprises have raised more than VND19.2 trillion ($821 million). They included PetroVietnam Power Coporation (PV Power), Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Corp JSC (BSR), PetroVietnam Oil Corp (PV Oil), Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) and Vietnam Southern Food Corp (Vinafood II).
The IPO of PV Power was the biggest deal with proceeds of almost VND7 trillion; followed by BSR with VND5.57 trillion and PV Oil with VND4.2 trillion. VRG and Vinafood II each earned the Vietnamese Government over VND1 trillion for their IPOs.
