Proceeds in the global IPO market rose 42 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, led by a surge in issuances in Europe, according to IPO research firm Renaissance Capital.
A total of $56.3 bn was raised in the second quarter of 2014 – compared with $39.6 bn in the same quarter of 2013 – while the number of deals jumped 74 percent to 127 from 73, Renaissance says in its quarterly IPO report. The median deal size increased 22 percent to $311 mn from $256 mn.
Europe accounted for 44 percent of all IPOs in the second quarter, a dramatic increase from 12 percent a year earlier. North America’s share rose slightly to 35 percent from 31 percent while IPO proceeds in Asia dropped sharply, accounting for only 20 percent, compared with 38 percent in the second quarter of last year.
‘In addition to a spike in IPO activity on the London Stock Exchange, several historically less active exchanges raised significant amounts of proceeds this quarter, including the Bolsa de Madrid and the Borsa Italiana,’ Renaissance says. ‘Due to the disappearance of A-share IPOs and poor aftermarket performance in real estate and infrastructure IPOs, the Asia Pacific region’s market share contracted.’
The New York Stock Exchange barely held on to the lead in IPO issuance, with 18.6 percent of the global total, compared with the 18.5 percent of the London Stock Exchange. NASDAQ came in third with 13.6 percent, followed by the Hong Kong Exchange, with a 7.8 percent share.
The $2.4 bn IPO of US auto loan provider Ally Financial, the $1.2 bn deal of exchange network Euronext and the $1.3 bn offering of UK bond research firm Markit kept the financial sector firmly in the lead in terms of individual sectors, accounting for almost 29 percent of all IPOs. The consumer sector came second, with 15 percent, followed by energy, with 13.8 percent.
‘As long as IPOs continue to generate positive returns we expect IPO issuance to remain active for the remainder of 2014,’ Renaissance says. ‘An increasing number of global companies are announcing their intentions to pursue an IPO. Notable companies in our global IPO pipeline that we expect to list in 2014 include China’s largest e-commerce firm Alibaba, British mobile network Everything Everywhere and Chinese commercial lender Bank of Beijing.’
