IPO Watch Europe - Q3 2005

October 2005

PricewaterhouseCoopers Q3 2005 IPO Watch Europe survey, tracking volume and value of IPOs on Europe's main stock exchanges, shows more cautious IPO activity in the traditionally quieter third quarter of 2005. There were 128 IPOs between 1 July and 30 September. This is higher than the 117 recorded in the same period of 2004, but down on the 174 recorded in the second quarter of 2005 ahead of the implementation of the EU Prospectus Directive.

Additionally, as in previous quarters in 2005, there were more international IPOs in Europe than in the US markets.

Despite lower activity, the total offering value of IPOs was €8,487m in the third quarter of 2005 - a notable increase on the €4,681m recorded in the same quarter of 2004. The high offering value was driven largely by the IPO of Gaz de France, the French government's latest privatisation and the world's largest IPO for three years, which raised €3,482m on Euronext.

This was almost twice as much as each of the two largest IPOs raised in the same period last year and in the second quarter of 2005. The average offering value for European IPOs rose to €81m which can largely be attributed to the effect of Gaz de France this quarter.

The Gaz de France IPO led Euronext to be the largest market this quarter in terms of offering value, raising €3,604m compared with €1,692m in the same period last year and €1,519m last quarter. This is the first time since the first quarter of 2004 that London has fallen behind Euronext in offering value terms.

The European markets continued to attract non-European companies in the third quarter of 2005. In total, there were 26 listings by non-European companies across the European markets, of which 17 were on the London markets. In addition to London, Luxembourg continued to attract non-European IPOs this quarter with six on the main market and two on Euro MTF (the exchange regulated market set up on 1 July 2005), while the Oslo Bors attracted a further Canadian IPO in the oil and gas sector this quarter, following its roadshow in Canada in the second quarter of 2005.

In contrast, the US exchanges continued to see a significant drop, not only in IPO activity but also in the offering value compared to the same period last year. Indeed, for the second quarter running, the total offering value on the US exchanges was lower than that raised on the European exchanges.

The US exchanges attracted four international IPOs in the third quarter of 2005, three from China and one from Israel. This was the same number as in the previous quarter and in the third quarter of 2004.

For a full analysis read the news release