The Underpricing of Infrastructure IPOs: Evidence from China

This study investigates the underpricing of 154 infrastructure IPOs in China from 1993 to 2012. It follows infrastructure IPO studies in Australia and India which report average underpricing returns to subscribers of 3.5% and 25.4% respectively. The average underpricing return for Chinese infrastructure IPOs is substantially higher at 91.1% but interestingly substantially lower than the underpricing of Chinese IPOs generally. The issue size, the offer price, the time delay to listing and the broad market return from the date of the prospectus to the date of listing are helpful in explaining the underpricing of Chinese infrastructure IPOs. Government ownership retention and underwriter reputation do not appear to have much explanatory power.