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FEARS of oversaturation from a flood of international equity offerings from Taiwan this autumn are easing, with several prospective issuers putting their plans on hold.
With only three deals launched before the summer, there had been increasing concern at the prospect of a further dozen companies attempting to raise over $1.5bn during the fourth quarter.
However, at least five potential issuers have put their deals under review, leaving only the stronger contenders to compete for investor attention.
According to Taipei-based bankers, the pipeline until mid-December is headed by ADI -- which began roadshowing in Hong Kong yesterday -- and followed by Siliconware, Walsin Lihwa, Formosa Plastics, Acer and UMC (United Microelectronics).
Many commented that ADI, widely regarded as the weakest contender of the group despite being the world's fifth largest manufacturer of monitors, had to launch its issue first if it was to achieve a successful launch.
"Since market conditions are not very good and the company does not have a particularly strong equity story, it needed to take advantage of any benefit it could by going first," said one banker.
Bankers Trust, which is overseeing its first GDR out of the country, hopes to price the deal in the week beginning September 18. The company is looking to raise $40m-$45m from the 50m share offering, which has a 144A tranche, but no greenshoe. Salomon and UBS are co-leads.
A more accurate gauge of market sentiment may be a $80m offering for PC packager Siliconware which launches roadshows on September 7 for pricing on September 19.
Led by BZW, the London-listed transaction is likely to prove popular with international investors since the underlying stock has reached its 15% foreign ceiling in Taiwan.
As a new share GDR, the issue has to be priced at the prevailing market level, though bankers have got round the restriction in the past by pricing at up to 60-day averages.
Comparisons will be drawn with Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), Asia's second largest semiconductor packaging...