Share sales in listed firms at record high of $4.4 billion this month

Companies and shareholders across Asia have been taking advantage of a market rebound since late March to sell shares.

Two jumbo block trades in India this month have pushed follow-on offerings in the country to a record high.

A $3.3-billion sell-down of GlaxoSmithKline’s stake in Unilever’s Indian unit, Hindustan Unilever, and a $1.1-billion placement of Bharti Airtel shares by its parent take May’s total follow-on offerings in the country to $4.4 billion, the most for a month on record, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

In addition to that, Reliance Industries, the largest company by market capitalisation, kicked off a $7-billion rights offer this month.

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Companies and shareholders across Asia have been taking advantage of a market rebound since late March to sell shares.

Almost $23 billion was raised in April across the region, the most since March 2018. India was quiet in March and April, when companies and shareholders sold just $299 million and $99 million worth of stock respectively, as the country went into lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Unilever deal is the largest additional share sale in India this year, while the Bharti Airtel block came at an opportune time given the stock is trading close to an all-time high.