The IPO market’s much-awaited comeback has finally arrived—just not where it was expected.
Buoyed by signs of an uptick in public offerings activity, US bankers and investors who were gearing up for a blockbuster second half of the year had their hopes dashed. India, Japan, and China took the spotlight in the third quarter instead, launching some of biggest listings in years.
Hyundai Motor India, Asia’s largest IPO of 2024—and India’s biggest ever—raised $3.3 billion. It was exceeded only by warehouse operator Lineage’s $4.4 billion US debut in July.
With Hyundai’s proceeds, according to Bloomberg, Indian IPOs have raised over $12 billion so far this year, surpassing the previous two years’ totals. With more than 100 IPOs, India has tallied the highest level of public offerings in more than 20 years.
Meanwhile, in Japan, subway operator Tokyo Metro raised $2.3 billion in the country’s largest IPO since 2018. X-Ray technology company Rigaku closed an $863 million IPO. Together, the deals more than doubled the value of IPOs launched in Japan in 2024 up to then. They also reassured investors after recession fears and an unexpected rate hike shook stock markets this summer.
After years of sluggish growth and lackluster market performance, cautious optimism is taking hold in China, too. Bottled-water maker China Resources Beverage Holdings and autonomous-driving firm Horizon Robotics, which counts Alibaba and Baidu among its largest investors, debuted in Hong Kong and raised collectively more than $1.3 billion.
In a similar fashion, listing activity has seen a surge in Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and across most of the entire Asia-Pacific region, contributing overall—according to EY—to an 11% quarter-over-quarter rise in global IPO figures in the Q3.
Successful offerings, experts say, are likely to generate positive reinforcement and encourage more companies to go public. Then again, the experts also warn that the road ahead remains fraught with challenges, including central bank policies, geopolitical uncertainties, and upcoming elections in the US and elsewhere.
