Singapore: ThaiBev’s brewery unit and Chinese supplier of material used in batteries start gauging demand for share sales in Singapore

The brewery unit of Thai Beverage Pcl and a Chinese supplier of a material used in batteries started gauging demand for share sales in Singapore and Hong Kong, respectively, testing appetite in a tough market for listings globally, Bloomberg reported on June 20.

ThaiBev’s BeerCo. initial public offering could raise between $800 million and $1 billion through the Singapore IPO, people familiar with the matter said last month. At the top of that range, it would be the biggest offering in the city since 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In Hong Kong, Tianqi Lithium Corp. also began pre-marketing its shares for an offering that could raise between $1 billion to $1.2 billion. It could potentially be the largest listing in the Asian financial hub since August, as large-size deals vanished this year. The company already trades in Shenzhen’s exchange, where the stock is up 11% year-to-date.

Both companies and their shareholders are aiming to tap investors in a market that hasn’t been this bad for nearly two decades, with proceeds from global IPOs and follow-on share sales down about 70% from a year ago. Surging inflation, aggressive central bank interest-rate hikes and the risk of a global recession have been eroding sentiment.

ThaiBev is attempting to sell shares in the unit after having shelved plans twice due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s seeking to float about 20% of BeerCo., according to a filing to the Singapore exchange.

The two firms are are not alone in their hunt for investor’s attention as the week starts. PT CSM Corporatama Tbk, a provider of car rental services, also started gauging demand for an IPO in Jakarta that could raise up to $250 million, according to IFR. TI Cloud Inc., a Chinese cloud-native customer solutions provider, started taking orders on Monday for a Hong Kong offering that aims to raise up to $77 million.

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