London regains its position as Europe’s most active exchange for IPOs, although IPO activity remains subdued across Europe

• 53 European IPOs raised €4.5bn in Q1 2017, an increase of €1.0bn, or 28% as compared to the €3.5bn raised by 50 IPOs in Q1 2016.
• The London Stock Exchange was the most active European exchange in the quarter with 20 IPOs raising £1.8bn, in line with Q1 2016.
• The two largest IPOs in Europe have been on the Bolsas y Mercados Espanoles (BME) the Spanish stock exchange: Prosegur Cash raised €750m and Neinor Homes raised €709m.

Supportive market conditions have helped European IPOs raise €4.5bn in Q1 2017. London regained its position as Europe’s most active exchange, building momentum for the rest of 2017 with 20 IPOs raising a total of £1.8bn matching the £1.8bn raised in Q1 2016. This is according to latest figures by PwC, published today.

The financial sector accounted for 87% of London proceeds, including BioPharma Credit, which raised £610m (€705m) and Ocelot Partners, which raised £342m (€395m).

 

Quarterly European IPO activity since 2013

 

Mark Hughes, Capital Markets partner at PwC, said:

“Q1 2017 numbers combined with a strong medium term pipeline of both domestic and foreign issuers, suggest that London is well placed to continue as Europe’s premier exchange as the UK negotiates its exit from the EU. Issuers will continue to be attracted to London by the liquidity of the financial markets, the depth and breadth of the investor base and the regulatory and business framework.”

Bolsas y Mercados Espanoles (BME) the Spanish stock exchange, hosted the two largest European IPOs of the quarter, security services group, Prosegur Cash raised €750m and Spanish home builder Neinor Homes raised €709m.

To give some indication of investors’ appetite, the Neinor Homes IPO was oversubscribed in just one day, which for a Spanish property company would have been unthinkable until recently. The recent uptick in Spanish activity has been supported by the general improvement in market conditions and political stability. The forthcoming BME IPOs of Gestamp and Unicaja look to continue this trend into Q2 2017.

Lucy Tarleton, Capital Markets director at PwC, said:

“While Q1 2016 was affected by political uncertainty and concerns over global economic growth, conditions this year have been more favourable for IPOs. Despite the lead up to the UK invoking Article 50 and the Dutch elections this quarter, the VSTOXX50 index, measuring market volatility, has remained low throughout the period. This combined with the low interest rate environment, and investors being keen to seek out and back IPOs with well supported compelling equity stories, means that a healthy pipeline of IPOs is beginning to emerge across the European continent.”

 

Five largest IPOs of Q1 2017

 

Trading date	Issuer	€m	Sector	Market
Mar-17	Prosegur Cash SA	750	Industrials	BME
Mar-17	Neinor Homes SAU	709	Financials	BME
Mar-17	BioPharma Credit plc	705	Financials	London
Mar-17	Ocelot Partners Ltd	395	Financials	London
Mar-17	Aumann GmbH	218	Industrials	Deutsche Börse

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• IPO Watch Europe surveys all new primary market equity IPOs on Europe’s principal stock markets and market segments (including exchanges in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK) on a quarterly basis. Movements between markets on the same exchange are excluded.
• This survey was conducted between 1 January and 31 March 2017 and captures IPOs based on their first trading date. All market data is sourced from the stock markets themselves and has not been independently verified by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.