KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 4): The initial public offering (IPO) market performance in 2020 defied all expectations, demonstrating the resilience of equity and capital markets.

According to research data analysed and published by online trading portal Comprar Acciones yesterday, last year saw a total of 1,363 IPOs receiving US$268 billion (RM1.09 trillion).

The IPO volume in 2020 was up by 19%, while the value increased by 29%.

Total proceeds from IPOs were the highest on record since 2010 when 1,361 IPOs raised US$290.2 billion.

The portal said technology, industrial and healthcare were the most active sectors in 2020.

It said that cumulatively, they accounted for a 59% share of deals globally and 64% of total proceeds.

Comprar Acciones said the US had the highest increase, with the number of deals shooting up by 30% year-on-year (y-o-y) and the value of IPOs by 78% y-o-y.

It said in 2019, the region had 217 deals raising US$54.9 billion, which increased to 282 deals with a total of US$97.9 billion in proceeds.

On the other hand, Asia-Pacific was the global leader in the number of deals as well as value.

It had a total of 822 deals during the year, raising US$136.2 billion.

Comparatively, it had 686 deals in 2019, which raised US$93.6 billion, marking a 20% and 45% increase respectively.

In Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA), there was a cumulative increase of 7% in deal numbers from 243 to 259.

However, proceeds declined by 43%, going down from US$59.8 billion to US$33.9 billion.

Notably, EMEIA had the largest-ever IPO in 2019, when Saudi Aramco was listed on the Tadawul Exchange, raising US$29.4 billion.

With the exception of this listing, the IPO proceeds in 2020 would have been 12% higher than in 2019.