IPO Watch Europe – Q2 2009

July 2009

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.

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.