London has strongest year for IPOs since 2021 with a strong Q4 for Europe signalling momentum for 2026

• EMEA IPO issuance in 2025 was led by the Nordics and the Middle East regions as well as a rebound in the London market

• IPO activity in London has accelerated in 2025, with Q4 driving London’s year-on-year growth in IPO proceeds which more than doubled compared to last year

• Global IPO proceeds have risen over 20% compared to last year, driven by increased activity in the US and Asia-Pacific   
   

European IPO market

Proceeds raised from European IPOs in Q4 reached €5.5 billion from 15 listings, a strong end to the year signalling robust momentum going into 2026, according to PwC’s latest IPO Watch EMEA 2025.

Overall, this year saw a total of €12.5 billion raised from 60 listings, slightly lower than the €15 billion raised from 64 listings in 2024, however the proceeds raised in Q4, along with a strong pipeline of listings, signal a continued revival of the IPO market.

The largest IPO in Europe this year was also the largest IPO in EMEA =- the €3.2 billion listing of home security company Verisure that listed on the Nasdaq in Stockholm. Other large IPOs in Europe include the €967 million listing of information technology company the Swiss Marketplace Group on the Six Swiss Exchange and the €823 million listing of Asker Healthcare also on the Nasdaq in Stockholm, home to four of the top 10 IPOs in Europe. Seven of the top 10 IPOs in Europe this year were backed by private equity, highlighting the ambition of investors to realise value.

Spotlight on London 

The London Stock Exchange saw £1.9 billion raised from 11 IPOs this year, marking its strongest year since 2021. Q4 saw a flurry of activity with fintech company Shawbrook and consumer company Princes Group pricing their IPOs at the end of October for £348 million and £400 million respectively. 

Other equity market activity saw the demergers of global mining company Valterra Platinum and Magnum Ice Cream Company, new listings of Metlen Energy & Metals and AIM to Main Market move-ups, rights issues and Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) transactions contributing to the rebound in London’s equity markets.

The three-year stamp duty holiday on shares in new UK IPOs. announced in the Chancellor's Budget last month, is widely seen as a positive step aimed at boosting the London IPO market.

The Middle East and Africa

IPO activity in the Middle East remained active, however, the average size of listings was smaller. In Q4, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) listings were led by Dubai’s ALEC, which saw $381 million in proceeds raised and several Saudi IPOs at sub-$50 million sizes.  The steady cadence of activity contrasts with Europe’s quiet summer, with sustained issuance across a range of sectors. The largest IPO in the Middle East this year was airline company Flynas which debuted on the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange in June raising $1 billion.

South Africa’s JSE performed strongly this year, benefiting from improved sentiment around domestic politics as well as surging prices of precious metals on the back of global safe-haven demand.

In total, proceeds raised in EMEA for 2025 reached $22.6 billion from 130 IPOs compared to $31.7 billion raised from 152 IPOs in 2024, with activity down due to  large-cap listings being deferred to 2026. However, there was strong performance in Q4 driven by activity in Stockholm, Saudi Arabia and London, with activity dominated by the Healthcare and Financials sectors.

Vhernie Manickavasagar, UK IPO Leader at PwC UK, said:

“London has delivered its strongest year for IPO and listing activity since 2021. In 2025, a total of £1.9 billion in proceeds was raised through 11 IPOs, with £1.3 billion of proceeds raised in the final quarter demonstrating growing momentum. In addition, global multi-billion-pound companies selected the London Stock Exchange for their international listings in 2025, the largest of which had a market capitalisation of £16 billion in December 2025. These developments underscore the resurgence of London’s capital markets and its returning appeal as a leading listing destination.

“Looking ahead, momentum is set to continue into 2026, with a robust pipeline of large-cap IPOs expected across the Consumer, Financial Services and TMT sectors.”

Kat Kravstov, Capital Markets Director at PwC UK, said:

“Global IPO issuance rose in 2025 compared to last year, supported by the recovery of the US and Asian markets, with IPO volumes trending towards more normalised levels. London is also benefiting from a growing cohort of IPO-ready businesses, particularly in financial services and tech-enabled sectors. Combined with increasing private equity activity, this creates a favourable backdrop for new issuance. Provided the economic environment stays on track, London could be entering a more active listing cycle in 2026.

“Looking ahead, 2026 is shaping up to be another strong year for IPOs globally and in EMEA, driven by strong investor appetite for quality IPO stories, a backlog of issuers, including large unicorns, and overall constructive equity market sentiment, subject to continued stability. We also saw IPO activity by private equity sponsors strengthen in 2025 and we expect a stronger PE-backed issuance next year."

Global IPO market

Global IPO proceeds totalled $143.3 billion from 1,014 IPOs, a 21% increase compared to 2024 which saw $118.1 billion proceeds raised from 984 IPOs. The rebound in activity, which was particularly strong in the second half of the year, was driven by robust IPO activity in the Americas ($59.8 billion) and Asia-Pacific region $61.6 billion), up 61% and 24% respectively. The largest IPO globally in 2025 was the $6.3bn IPO of Medline that recently priced in December in the US.

The top 10 IPOs of 2025 consisted of six from the Asia-Pacific region, three from the US and one from Europe. Private equity and venture capital backed IPOs accounted for four of the top 10, showing a move towards the return of sponsor-backed listings as a viable monetisation route. The largest sector for IPO activity in terms of proceeds raised globally was the Financials sector, raising $42.3 billion, up from its position as third largest in 2024 when it raised $16.3 billion. Financials accounted for 29% of global proceeds, with four IPOs raising over a $1 billion. Information Technology followed with proceeds of $19.6 billion, while Consumer Discretionary and Industrials raised $18.8 billion and $18.1 billion.

Stuart Newman, Global IPO Centre Leader at PwC UK, added,

“Despite disruption, 2025 has been a strong year for IPOs, up 21% from the prior year. The US, China/Hong Kong and India have driven 2025 activity; there is confidence and an active pipeline going into 2026 in all regions, if still selective.”

Ends. 

Notes to editors

Reports can be found here:

EMEA IPO Watch 
https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/audit/insights/ipo-watch-europe.html 

Global IPO Watch: 
https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/audit/insights/global-ipo-watch.html 

The data in the report is cut-off at 2nd December 2025.

IPO Watch EMEA and Global reports on all new primary market equity IPOs on EMEA and Global principle stock markets and market segments using the Capital IQ list of exchanges mapping, on a quarterly basis. Movements between markets on the same exchange are excluded.

The data is based on data extracted from Capital IQ on 2nd December 2025 and based on their offering date between 1st January and 30th November 2025 and excluded greenshoe. Only transactions with a minimum of $5m money raised have been included, the data excludes Closed-End Funds and Business Development companies and transactions on Over-The-Counter exchanges. The IPO data for the full year will be updated in January 2026.