- Focus of global IPO activity shifts
- Europe and USA with strong half-year results, Asia weakens
- A total of 36 IPOs in Europe (up 10 percent) with an issue volume of USD 13.6 billion
- Five European stocks among the global top 10 IPOs
- No IPOs were completed in Switzerland in the second quarter of the year
Zurich, 28 June 2024 - The results of the latest IPO Barometer from audit and advisory firm EY show that global IPO sentiment remained subdued in the first half of 2024: A total of 551 companies went public worldwide - twelve percent fewer than in the same period last year. The issue volume also shrank by 16% to USD 52.2 billion. A similar picture emerges when looking at the figures for the past second quarter; the number of IPOs worldwide fell by 15 percent to 271 companies, while the decline in issue volume was even more pronounced with a drop of 31 percent to 27.8 billion US dollars.
One trend continues: IPO activity continued to shift in the second quarter. Asia, traditionally the world's leading IPO market, once again recorded declines and Asia's market share fell from 60% to 39%. The picture is clouded above all by developments in China. Only 74 IPOs were counted in the People's Republic in the first half of 2024 (down 64%). The issue volume also shrank significantly to just USD 6.3 billion (down 81%). By contrast, the number of IPOs in Europe rose by 10% (to 69) and the issue volume by 196% (to USD 15.2 billion). The US market also performed significantly better in the first half of the year compared to the previous year: the number of IPOs rose by 27% to 80; and the issue volume climbed by 75% to USD 17.8 billion.
The technology (USD 10.8 billion) and health/life science (USD 8.9 billion) sectors again accounted for the largest shares of the global issue volume of around USD 52 billion in the first half of the year. The largest IPO of the year to date took place in Spain in the second quarter: The family-owned company Puig Brands SA from the consumer goods sector achieved an issue volume of more than USD 2.9 billion in its IPO.
In Switzerland, there will still be an IPO in the first half of 2024
There was no IPO in Switzerland in the second quarter. This means that there will still be one IPO for the first six months of the current year: the listing of Galderma Group AG on the SIX Swiss Stock Exchange in the first quarter. This IPO raised just under 2.3 billion Swiss francs. This is roughly equivalent to the total volume of all ten IPOs in Switzerland in 2023. Tobias Meyer, Head of Transaction Accounting and IPO Services at EY in Switzerland, says: "After the first six months, we are still optimistic about further IPOs in the coming months due to the global development of inflation rates and key interest rate decisions by central banks (e.g. the recent interest rate cut by the Swiss National Bank). Successful IPOs and stable share price performance, such as that of Galderma following its IPO in the first quarter of 2024, can also lend positive momentum to the Swiss capital market in the longer term. Nevertheless, the Swiss IPO market will remain dependent on geopolitical developments and upcoming elections, particularly the election of the US president."
