Lackluster Debuts Have Chinese Firms Delaying US Listings

The slowdown in initial public offerings (IPOs) has continued with at least three Chinese companies choosing to delay plans to list in the U.S., Bloomberg reported.

Among them are bikesharing platform Hello, podcaster Ximalaya and cloud computing firm Qiniu, according to Bloomberg.

They were discouraged by recent trends like market declines, lessening investor interest and debuts by companies like Waterdrop, which fell short of expectations, Bloomberg reported.

The companies have postponed their plans to list in the U.S. despite already having filed paperwork to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) weeks ago, according to Bloomberg. In the U.S., companies can begin their campaigns two weeks after the filings, which is a timetable most companies adhere to.

Hello said it hasn’t decided yet about its eventual valuation due to investor caution, Bloomberg reported. The company had been set to raise as much as $500 million to $1 billion.

Ximalaya and Qiniu put their listings on hold due to investor caution as well, according to Bloomberg.

Poor debuts have been a constant source of agony, with Bloomberg reporting that there have been 20 out of 34 Chinese firms listing in the U.S. having a less-than-desirable performance.

The volatility has also scared U.S. companies, Bloomberg noted, which have seen delayed floats and weak debuts as well.

Companies have been ready to go public around the globe, with over 875 IPOs as of this year alone. All of them racked up a minimum of $1 million.

The last time IPOs were this high was around 2000, when the dot-com boom was happening and there were around 592 filings during the same period all raising at least $1 million.

This year, proceeds from public listings have totaled $230 billion, which is a new record.