IPO Watch EMEA Q3 2025

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Quarterly report tracking the volume and value of IPOs on EMEA main stock exchanges.

“The reopening of the European IPO market, illustrated by several IPOs across Swiss, German, and Nordic markets, provides an encouraging outlook for the remainder of the year and 2026. The London IPO market witnessed positive momentum in Q3 2025, with recent successful listings. With two companies also announcing their intention to float on the LSE, London’s IPO recovery has gathered pace.

Looking ahead, we foresee a strong pipeline across Europe with potential large cap listings lining up for 2026. London’s IPO recovery is expected to continue, absent any macroeconomic or geopolitical shocks, bolstered by a number of financial services and fast-growing companies across sectors gearing up for their public debut, as well as a promising international pipeline.”

Vhernie Manickavasagar
Partner, UK Capital Markets

Key themes

  • Q3 2025 has seen monetary policies ease across the globe, with the Bank of England, European Central Bank and Federal Reserve in the US all cutting rates. The Fed cut the interest rate for the first time in almost a year as inflation continues to stabilise.
  • The VSTOXX index, a measure of volatility, has continued to trade at normalised level in Q3 as global indices recovered after the April sell-off.
  • Gold prices hit a new all-time high at the end of the quarter reflecting investor concerns about slowing global growth.

The London equity market is seeing increasing activity, most notably:

  • An industrial and energy company transferred its primary listing to London in August in a share for share exchange.
  • The recent IPO of a beauty tech company.
  • The announced intention to float of a large food and beverage company, currently owned by a listed Italian group, and the recent announcement to float of a digital banking platform.

Momentum is building in EMEA’s IPO markets, including Europe, with a Swiss ecommerce company pricing at the top of its range, a Swedish digital banking company swiftly covering its fixed price IPO and a recently launched Sweden-based security services company IPO targeting to raise what would be Europe’s largest IPO this year.

Secondary equity issuances also remained strong in EMEA. Notably, a Danish renewable energy company launched a bumper rights offering.

The IPO pipeline in the Middle East remains strong, driven by economic transformation agendas, structural reforms, and investor appetite for mature assets.

IPO markets entered 2025 with a positive outlook, however, macro and geopolitical headwinds combined with increased volatility in the second quarter have tempered IPO activity both in the EMEA region and globally.

The post-summer window has seen the start of what is hoped to be a steady recovery, with a number of notable IPOs pricing and launching in Q3.

With a backlog of private equity-backed IPO candidates waiting for exit, 2026 is poised to host the long-anticipated return of large-cap IPOs. With investor sentiment remaining fragile, continued macro and geopolitical stability will be key to unlocking the IPO market through the remainder of the year and into 2026.

“Amidst a more dynamic IPO market landscape, private equity firms are actively exploring exit opportunities for their maturing portfolio companies, with many sponsors opting for dual-track processes whilst weighing a private sale versus an IPO. As the London IPO market gains traction, the financial services sector is poised for significant activity next year, supported by a sizable pipeline of issuers. Demergers and cross-border listing activity are also expected to provide additional positive momentum.

From a global perspective, the 2025 IPO market is expected to be stronger than last year, driven by increased IPO activity in the US and Asia, supported by a stabilising macroeconomic environment and strong performance of global equity indices.”

Kat Kravtsov
Director, UK Capital Markets

YTD 2025 EMEA IPO activity

  • Breadth of sectors: This year, the IPO market in Europe saw a breadth of sectors including Consumer, Financials, Healthcare, and Tech. This sentiment is also echoed by global IPO issuances.
  • Middle East pipeline: The Middle East’s IPO market remains active, driven by activity in Saudi Arabia. A strong and diversified IPO pipeline is expected into late 2025 and 2026.
  • Largest secondary equity sell-down in South Africa: A producer of platinum metals accelerated block transaction demonstrates strong secondary equity markets in EMEA.
  • Strong demerger activity: Demerger activity continues as companies aim to unlock shareholder value, exemplified by an automotive supplier spin-off in Germany which was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
  • Cross-border listing activity: New listing activity with a cross-border element is an increasing trend, highlighting the importance of maintaining optionality and agility in the IPO preparation process.
  • Private equity exits are evolving: With PE activity picking up, sponsors are evolving their exit strategies, often holding for longer and planning phased sell-downs post float.

EMEA IPO activity (Q1 2022 to Q3 2025)

YTD 2025 European IPO activity

In Europe, the IPO of a Swiss ecommerce company on the SIX Swiss Exchange was the largest IPO in Europe this quarter. Stockholm also saw a standout debut from a digital banking group, which saw its price surge 30% above the offer price on the first day of trading. A Spanish gaming and leisure operator listed on the BME Exchange, reinforcing investor appetite for consumer facing businesses despite macroeconomic headwinds.

The general trend for recent European IPOs has been a strong oversubscription early in the bookbuilding process and significant cornerstone support, which has allowed them to build deal momentum quickly.

An industrial and energy company completed its voluntary share exchange offer to list on the LSE with a market capitalisation of €6.6bn on debut, reinforcing London’s continued appeal for international issuers. In an exciting start to Q4, two intentions to float were recently published on the LSE, and a beauty technology company priced its IPO at the start of October. These transactions reinforce London’s continued appeal for international issuers.

From a sector perspective, the recovery in the European equity issuance has been led by the consumer and the financials sectors. However, the healthcare and IT sectors are closely behind, reflecting investor support for the breadth of sectors.

Europe IPO activity (Q1 2022 to Q3 2025)

Contact us

Vhernie Manickavasagar

Vhernie Manickavasagar

Partner, UK IPO Leader, PwC United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)7595 849896

Kat Kravtsov

Kat Kravtsov

Director, UK Capital Markets, PwC United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)7710 036613

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