A-share private placement market active this year, capital converging on new quality productive forces

Securities Daily Reporter Ding Rong

Since 2026, the A-share private placement market has been active, with both the number of listed companies completing private placements and the total funds raised far exceeding the same period last year. Wind Information data shows that as of March 16, based on the listing date, 52 A-share listed companies have completed additional issuance this year, a year-on-year increase of 73.33%; the actual funds raised amount to 164.427 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51.77%.

Tian Lihui, Professor of Finance at Nankai University, told Securities Daily: “The activity in private placements is closely related to policy support and market demand. Policy measures have released multiple positive signals, and as new productive forces and industrial upgrades accelerate, companies’ expansion and R&D needs are strong. Coupled with institutional capital’s demand for high-quality assets, these factors together drive the active private placement market. This creates a virtuous cycle for the capital market, where ‘source’ (capital inflow) exceeds ‘drain’ (capital outflow), with patient capital such as social security, insurance, and public funds becoming the main source of fresh liquidity for private placements.”

Investors Focus More on Asset ‘Quality’

The Securities Daily review found that since the beginning of this year, premium private placements have frequently occurred in the A-share market. Several listed companies, including China Broadcasting Measurement & Testing Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Guangdian Measurement”), Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Jianghuai Auto”), Inner Mongolia Mengdian Huaneng Thermal Power Co., Ltd., and Fengshen Tire Co., Ltd., have actual issuance prices exceeding their issuance floor prices by more than 20%.

For example, according to Guangdian Measurement’s 2025 annual A-share issuance announcement to specific investors, the actual issuance price was 24.01 yuan per share, with an issuance floor price of 18.60 yuan per share, a premium rate of 29.09%. Similarly, Jianghuai Auto’s 2024 annual issuance to specific investors saw an actual issuance price of 49.88 yuan per share, with a floor price of 40.25 yuan per share, a premium rate of 23.93%.

Tian Lihui stated: “The occurrence of a 20% premium in private placements indicates that investors are more focused on the ‘quality’ of assets rather than just seeking discounts.”

In terms of industry distribution, from January 1 to March 16 this year, the 52 companies that completed private placements are distributed across sectors such as non-ferrous metals, hardware equipment, biomedicine, software services, automobiles and auto parts, electrical equipment, and semiconductors.

Fu Yifu, a special researcher at the Shanghai Commercial Bank, told Securities Daily: “Funds in private placements are focusing on fields related to new productive forces, revolving around technological breakthroughs, capacity upgrades, and strengthening the industrial chain. This flow aligns with industrial policy guidance and capital’s pursuit of long-term value, promoting deep integration of capital with technological innovation and advanced manufacturing, becoming an important financial support for the development of new productive forces.”

Private Placements as a ‘Booster’ for Industrial Leapfrogging

The active private placement market is inseparable from policy support. From the policy perspective, in February this year, the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing stock exchanges announced measures to optimize refinancing, mainly supporting high-quality listed companies’ refinancing, increasing institutional inclusiveness for innovative technology companies, improving the convenience of refinancing systems, and strengthening full-chain supervision of refinancing.

Gao Chengfei, Director of Guangzhou Tiaoyuan Marketing Consulting Management Co., Ltd., told Securities Daily: “On one hand, regulators continue to optimize refinancing mechanisms, emphasizing ‘supporting excellence and technology.’ On the other hand, under strict regulation, fundraising activities are becoming more transparent and standardized, with full-chain supervision covering fundraising and usage, and strict scrutiny of misleading refinancing. This will help optimize capital flow and enhance market capacity.”

For listed companies, those leading in their fields and high-quality enterprises in niche sectors can increase R&D investment and expand capacity. Lin Xianping, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the China Urban Experts Think Tank Committee, told Securities Daily: “Private placements are becoming an important booster for high-quality companies to strengthen competitiveness and achieve industrial leapfrogging.”