IPO Watch Q3 2007

October 2007

The volume of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) listing in Europe rose by 19% in the third quarter (July-September) compared with the same period a year ago, despite recent market volatility, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP quarterly IPO Watch Europe survey. The survey, which tracks the volume and value of IPOs on Europe’s main stock exchanges, showed that London was again the largest market in terms of offering value and volume in the quarter, with 79 IPOs raising €6,354m compared with 77 IPOs raising €11,681m in 2006.

The largest IPO in the third quarter of 2007 was on the Prime market of Deutsche Börse, Tognum AG, a supplier of engines and propulsion systems, which raised €1,800m. The next four largest IPOs all listed on London’s Main Market. These were Guaranty Trust Bank, a Nigerian bank, which raised €558m, Alliance Bank JSC, a bank in Kazakhstan, raising €524m, Vimetco NV, an industrial and investment group focusing on aluminium, raising €428m and Third Point Offshore Investors Ltd, an investment company, raising €387m.

Overall in Europe there were 179 IPOs in the third quarter of 2007, an increase of 19% on the 151 in the same period in 2006. The total offering value of €12,767m was down 22% compared to the same quarter of 2006 which raised €16,348m. An element of the fall in total offering value is due to the size of the largest transactions, the average offering value of the top five IPOs in quarter three 2006 was €2,312m compared to €739m in the third quarter of 2007.