The 2019 Depositary Receipt Market Review
Launching Alternative Funds in Europe: Easier Than You Think
February 2020 By
Christopher M. Kearns
Despite U.S. and China trade negotiations, the uncertainty of Brexit and associated market volatility, the Depositary Receipts (DRs) market remained relatively strong in 2019. A total of $17 billion was raised through 83 offerings, trading volume totaled 150.3 billion DRs, valued at $3.3 trillion, and the unsponsored depositary receipt market continued to grow.
From a regional perspective, the China-led Asia Pacific market was remarkably active with $1.8 trillion DRs value traded, almost half of the total $3.3 trillion DRs value traded globally. The region also saw 43 offerings, which raised a total of $12.1 billion. Artificial intelligence, real estate technology, financial and education technology companies with large consumer bases used ADRs to access the capital markets to grow and scale. Notable offerings in 2019 included Sea Limited raising $1.5 billion, Trip.com raising $1 billion and Luckin Coffee raising $645 million.
Europe, the Middle East and Africa also saw significant activity, which was predominately driven by the Biotechnology & Healthcare sector. 2019 saw a total of 16 Biotechnology & Healthcare offerings come from these regions, including the $575 million ADR offering by Ascendis Pharma, their fifth offering since 2015 and the largest from the sector. Other notable transactions included Halyk Banks' raising of $344 million through a GDR offering, which included the first ever listing of GDRs on the Astana International Exchange (AIX), and Jumia Technologies, the leading pan-African e-commerce retail platform, completing an ADR offering of $225 million, becoming the first African start-up to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
From a service offering perspective, BNY Mellon launched multiple initiatives to help issuers navigate industry trends, regulatory changes and best practices to help guide the success of their DR program.
- Capital Markets and IR Seminar – this client-focused event covered topics including ESG and investor demands for non-financial information, best practices for investor relations speed roundtables, and the event highlight, a keynote speech from Dr. Mark Mobius, entitled Investing for Good.
- Global Investor Relations Insight Series – our new quarterly distribution of thematic thought leadership, combined with in-person roundtables and webinars intended to guide conversations around important topics and trends facing the investor relations community.
- The Separately Managed Account Opportunity for ADR Issuers – a new whitepaper with insights gleaned from the investment community discussing how the ownership and settlement mechanics of ADRs are well suited for the Managed Accounts structure, a rapidly growing segment of U.S. investment.
With global growth predicted to be at 3% in 2020, we are optimistic for the DR market. BNY Mellon is the leading depositary bank and we remain dedicated to this business. We look forward to expanding our efforts in 2020 to ensure we are even more strategically aligned with our clients to bring the most value to their DR programs.
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