ASIA’S army of equity capital bankers are betting on a stream of listed companies seeking fresh funds, including Alibaba’s plans for an up to US$20 billion Hong Kong share sale, as trade tensions continue to weigh on the big business of taking firms public.

Proceeds from IPOs in Asia-Pacific halved in the six months ending in June to US$22.5 billion, data from Refinitiv shows.

Overall equity capital raising volumes fell by 26 percent, even as companies, including newly-listed technology stocks, sought fresh funds via follow-on offerings and convertible bonds.

Bankers said IPO volumes were weakened by volatile markets amid the ongoing trade tensions.

“Investors have become more cautious about valuations,” said Li Hang, head of global equity capital markets and syndicate at investment bank CLSA.

“They show less interest in deals and tend to wait longer instead of giving an early indication of interest unless it’s a must-hold stock,” he added.

Not even one IPO made the biggest 10 equity market deals so far this year in Asia-Pacific. The US$1.2 billion initial public offering by Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co. in Shanghai in April was the 11th biggest equity deal.

The two biggest equity deals were the US$6 billion and US$3.9 billion raised via convertible bonds by China CITIC Bank and Ping An Bank, respectively.

The Hong Kong exchange was still the busiest in the region for IPOs, with US$7.3 billion to its credit, Refinitiv data shows.

That includes the US$1 billion raised by generic drugmaker Hansoh Pharmaceutical but not the up to US$1.24 billion expected for logistics property developer ESR Cayman, which pulled its deal last month amid shaky markets.

“There are a lot fewer elephant-sized IPOs in the pipeline and the long list of smaller deals will need a more stable market backdrop for many of them to complete,” said Alex Abagian, co-head of Asia Pacific equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley.

By far the largest upcoming deal is the expected Hong Kong listing by Alibaba, which would be the biggest secondary share sale globally in seven years.

The U.S.-listed e-commerce giant has filed confidentially for the deal, which is expected in the coming months.

Alibaba’s plan is also notable for being the first tech company to use a 2018 rule change in Hong Kong aimed at tempting New York-listed mainland companies to list closer to home. (SD-Agencies)