Some 25 US-listed mainland firms have had privatisation offers so far this year, with 22 of them announced before the end of June as the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets were imploding. The phenomenon has been driven by a significant underperformance of US-listed mainland firms, versus their A-share listed peers. Nowhere is this pattern more striking than in the technology and internet arena. While the buyout trend has lifted the price of mainland stocks listed in the US, they remain far behind their mainland peers on a price-earnings basis - despite the massive falls in Shanghai and Shenzhen. The chance of that gap closing appears slim though, according to a report from S&P Capital IQ. "Given the recent stock market plunge and the IPO halt in China, the privatisation trend has ended for the time being. For those privatisations already announced this year, the opportunity to relist in China is currently on hold," the firm says. A no-man's land awaits.
