Companies that have listed on the mainland Chinese market have left almost $25 billion (€18.33 billion) "on the table" over the past year, underlining the yawning gap between the pricing of public offerings and frenzied investor demand.
The findings come as bankers expect the deal flow to increase as Beijing pushes more companies to float so as to boost liquidity in the A-share market.
Over the past 12 months, more than one-third of the 113 offerings on the A-share market more than doubled in value on their debut, according to Thomson Financial. The average first-day rise was 97 per cent, translating into a combined gain of $24.4 billion. By comparison, share prices of mainland enterprises that floated in Hong Kong last year gained a first-day average of 22.5 per cent, according to the city's Securities and Futures Commission.
UBS, hitherto the only western bank alongside Goldman Sachs to get permission to manage A-share listings, is understood to be working on up to 10 listings.
Several foreign banks are pushing for permission to acquire control of a local brokerage. China has kept a tight control on listings, and only allowed activity to resume a year ago after a lengthy suspension.
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