IPO Watch Report Q2 2009

Last ned IPO Watch Report Q2 2009 (56 kb)

European IPO markets remain largely closed as secondary issues absorb investors’ funds

Europe’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) markets have endured another poor quarter with just 28 new listings in the three months up to 30 June, although the €456m raised was a huge improvement over the €9m recorded in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers IPO Watch Europe survey. IPO activity continued to suffer from the global loss of confidence in the capital markets and the fact that there has been pressure on investors to put their money into listed companies looking to strengthen their balance sheets through secondary offerings.

The survey, which tracks the volume and value of IPOs around Europe, shows that, although volumes and values in the April-June period were well up on the first quarter, they still lagged way behind the second quarter of 2008 when there were 133 listings raising €9,171m. The four largest IPOs of the quarter accounted for 88% of the total money raised. The largest IPO this quarter was Max Property Group, hosted by London’s AIM market and raising €226m. In second place was Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka, a Polish coal mining company which listed on the Main Market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) raising €116m. The third largest IPO was Altus Resource Capital, a Guernsey-domiciled investment company which listed on London’s SFM market raising €30m.

Tom Troubridge, head of the Capital Markets Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said:

“Europe’s IPO markets remain shut to all intents and purposes, with a continued low level of activity in what is traditionally a busy quarter for listings. One of the main reasons for this is the huge level of secondary fund raising activity we have seen in recent months. In the first six months of 2009 more than €50bn was raised in London alone. By way of comparison, in 2007, a good year for listings, the funds raised by all IPOs in London was €39bn.

“While there is no indication at the moment of the IPO markets re-opening in the sense of a spate of new listings, there are some early signs of companies thinking about preparing for listing. Given the fact that it typically takes six months to prepare for an IPO, we are sticking to our forecast that the IPO markets will not return until the second quarter of 2010. When the markets do re-open, the initial listings are likely to be largely domestic companies, with little cross-border activity expected until the end of next year or beyond.”

The Oslo exchanges, Børs and Axess, reported no IPO activity this quarter.

About IPO Watch Europe

IPO Watch Europe surveys all new primary market equity IPOs on Europe’s principal stock markets and market segments (including exchanges in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) on a quarterly basis. Movements between markets on the same exchange and greenshoe offerings are excluded. This survey was conducted between 1 January and 31 March 2009 and captures new market IPOs based on their transaction date. All market data is sourced from the stock markets themselves and has not been independently verified by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.