IPO Watch Europe – Review of the year 2007

February 2008

PricewaterhouseCoopers IPO Watch Europe - Review of the year 2007 is compiled by the Capital Markets Group and collates and builds on the findings of our quarterly survey tracking the volume and value of IPOs on Europe’s main stock exchanges.

Activity on the European exchanges fell slightly in 2007 to 813 IPOs compared with 838 in 2006, while the total offering value of IPOs fell by 9% from €87,849m in 2006 to €80,367m in 2007.

However, IPO activity on the European exchanges remained strong in 2007 despite the problems that arose in the financial markets in the second half of the year.  The European markets have, for the third year running, outperformed those in the US both in terms of volume of IPOs and total value of offerings. Europe has also remained ahead of Greater China in 2007, but growth in those markets has meant that the gap has narrowed significantly.   London was the most successful European market in 2007 with an increased market share by offering value of 49%, despite a fall in the volume and value of IPO activity.

IPO activity in Europe continued to be supported by the volume of international IPOs, that is non-European companies listing on the European capital markets.  While the volume of international IPOs fell slightly by 5% to 126 in 2007, the total offering value rose by 13% to €21,431 million with the growth coming from a number of large transactions, predominantly Global Depositary Receipts from emerging markets such as Russia and India. 

2008 has seen a worsening of the market volatility that arose in late 2007, and while there remains a strong pipeline of companies wishing to enter the capital markets, it is difficult for companies to price and complete their IPOs in volatile market conditions. Activity in 2008 will depend upon whether the opening market conditions represent a brief ‘correction’ of the markets or the start of a longer period of low growth or even recession.

If you would like to speak to one of our listings experts please get in touch with myself or one of the other Capital Markets contacts listed at the back of the publication.