IPO盛宴中暴赚的7大投行

    对于全球IPO市场来说，2014年是收获颇丰的一年。

    这一年，1155家公司首发上市，融资逾2380亿美元。按融资总额计算，这是2010年以来全球IPO市场表现最好的一年。

    今年还出现了美国历史上规模最大的IPO——中国电子商务巨擘阿里巴巴9月份于纽约证交所挂牌上市，筹集资金高达250亿美元。

    这场IPO盛宴也带来了不少赚钱机会。高盛迎来了有史以来业绩最好的一年。彭博提供的数据显示，高盛参与了全球109家公司的IPO，承销费净收入为47.6亿美元。摩根大通紧随其后，涉足了113家公司的IPO，斩获收入40.3亿美元。位居第三的摩根士丹利与前两名差距较大，承销收入近3.72亿美元。

    投行通过承销新股赚取佣金，这笔费用按照新上市公司融资总额的固定比例来收取。在美国市场，大型IPO的承销费比例通常为3%-5.5%——如果投行希望参与备受关注的IPO，往往会下调这个百分比。举例来说，在阿里巴巴创纪录的IPO过程中，承销商同意收取1%的佣金。降低收费通常都是物有所值的，这样做既是为了和企业建立关系，也有利于投行今后的业务，比如随后的公司债券发行，或是其他大型IPO。

    此外，承销费并不是投行在IPO中的全部收入。通常，投行在IPO中所获得的收入远高于承销费，而且它们在新股上市交易后甚至赚的更多。上市当天，热门公司的股价经常飙升，从而超出发行价；投行就会将手中的新股抛出，直接套利。

    所有这些都有助于提升投行的2014年的财务表现。第三季度，花旗集团的承销收入同比增长了51%，摩根大通的承销收入增幅为24%。借助这部分收入的大幅攀升，花旗和摩根大通的总收入同比分别上涨了9%和5%。

    投行不是今年IPO盛宴中的唯一的大赢家，尤其是牵涉到阿里巴巴时。雅虎得感谢阿里，后者让它不费吹灰之力就赚了近94亿美元。此外，阿里巴巴上市后，软银董事长孙正义也一跃成为日本首富。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    审稿：李翔

    2014 was a stellar year for initial public offerings across the globe.

    This year, 1,155 companies started trading on the world’s public markets and pulled in over $238 billion. Based on total proceeds, that makes 2014 the best year for IPOs since 2010, and we haven’t even rung in the new year yet.

    The year also featured the biggest public stock offering ever when Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba BABA 0.41% raised $25 billion in September and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

    With figures this big, there are a lot of gains to spread around. Goldman Sachs GS 0.20% had the best year, grabbing 109 deals worldwide and netting $4.76 billion in fees as of mid-December, according to Bloomberg data. JPMorgan Chase came in second with $4.03 billion in fees across 113 deals. Morgan Stanley MS -0.36% was a distant third, pulling in almost $372 million.

    Investment banks earn fees from underwriting IPOs, and the amount they earn is a set percentage of the total money raised by the newly public company. The bank’s cut typically ranges between 3% and 5.5% for big U.S. IPOs, although banks will often lower that percentage if they want to get involved in a prestigious deal. For example, underwriters on the record-breaking Alibaba deal agreed to a 1% cut of the proceeds. Lower fees are often worth it in order to build a relationship with a company and position the bank for future business, such as an upcoming debt issuance or other top shelf IPOs.

    Also, IPO fees don’t capture the whole revenue picture. Banks usually take home much more than their fee totals, notching even more gains after the shares list on the stock exchange. Stocks of hot companies often see their prices pop in first day trading, rising above the offering price, and so banks can sell a chunk of the company’s shares for an immediate gain.

    All of this has helped to boost investment banks’ bottom lines in 2014. Citigroup’s C 0.22% income from underwriting offerings rose 51% year-over-year in the third quarter, while JPMorgan’s underwriting income was up 24% over the same period. The revenue jump helped both banks boost overall income, which was up 9% at Citigroup and 5% at JPMorgan compared with the year prior.

    The banks weren’t the only big IPO winners this year, especially where Alibaba comes into play. Yahoo YHOO 1.26% has Alibaba to thank for a nearly $9.4 billion windfall, and Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son skyrocketed to the top of the Japan’s richest moguls list after the Chinese internet giant went public.