European companies have raised more money by going public in the first quarter of 2014 than in all the previous four years in aggregate, generating a whopping €11.4bn.
According to research by PwC, London posted close to €5.9bn in Q1 compared with €1.9bn in the same period of 2013. Property company Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate pulled off the capital’s largest initial public offering (IPO) of the quarter, raising €1bn. Furthermore, there were eight retail IPOs in London, which accumulated €2.8bn between them.
The Euronext exchanges in Brussels, London, Lisbon, Paris and Amsterdam generated €2.1bn, while the Nordic exchange raised €1.9bn, which was largely attributable to the €1.1bn float of service company ISS.
Greater activity in the IPO market at the start of 2014 follows on from improved market conditions in 2013, when European IPO proceeds increased by 135% to €26.5bn for the year.
PwC has predicted that Q2 could be equally busy, with IPO proceeds likely to exceed €10bn.
Commenting on his firm’s research, Richard Weaver, capital markets partner at PwC, said: “This quarter is the first time since 2007 that we have witnessed such high volumes in the IPO markets across most of Europe.”
Separate research by Deloitte claims that the international M&A markets are springing into life, with global deal volumes predicted to hit 8,000 in the second quarter of this year, up 10% on the same period last year.
Sally Percy is editor of The Treasurer