Global Consulting Firms Eye China's IPO Opportunities

Global risk and business consulting firms are eyeing China's IPO market for significant new business opportunities, especially at a time when the country has just launched its NASDAQ-style trading board ChiNext, China Daily reported Monday.

Protiviti, a U.S.-based business consulting and internal audit firm, is working with a number of companies that are preparing themselves to become public companies in helping them institute good risk management and corporate governance, and establish an internal audit function, according to Joseph Tarantino, CEO of Protiviti.

China reopened its IPO market in June after a 10-month halt due to the widespread global credit crunch. Although the market declined last year with the plunging stock markets, the country led the world in IPOs with 127 deals raising 17.9 billion U.S. dollars, according to the U.S. accounting firm Ernst & Young.

China has become the largest market outside the United States for Protiviti, which has seen double-digit business growth in the country since it entered the market six years ago.

Protiviti has successfully helped Chinese enterprises such as Baidu.com and Suntech Power go public in foreign financial markets. So far, it has established representative offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.