Ding dong: Europe’s IPO market is set for three big floats this month
Europe is set for three large floats this month as the continent begins to recover from a slow start to the year.
Three initial public offerings (IPOs) worth $1bn (£0.7bn) or more are due to price in the coming weeks. They will be the first this year in the continent, according to Dealogic.
Danish company Dong Energy is set to price a $2.5bn IPO on 9 June, with Dutch insurer ASR Nederland expected to raise $1.1bn in a float on the same day.
Read more: London set for IPO market recovery… but not just yet
Later in the month, on 23 June, Italy’s Veneto Banca is expected to complete an IPO worth $1.1bn.
No $1bn-plus IPOs have been priced in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region so far this year. At the same point in 2015, there had been five.
The Dealogic report also showed that there has been a 38 per cent reduction in average deal values, from $203m to $126m, over this period in EMEA. So far this year, there have been 92 deals, compared with 137 listings in the same period last year.
Read more: More signs of a fitness boost for the European IPO market
In the UK, Europe’s most active nation for IPOs, there have been 25 listings, down from 29 in the same period last year. The total value of these deals is down by 50 per cent, from $5.8bn to $2.9bn.
IPO experts have told CityAM the UK's market has experienced a slow start to the year in part because of the upcoming EU referendum.