ISE paid €310m to IPO surge

The Irish Stock Exchange contributed €310m to the €3bn initial public offering (IPO) surge across the EU in the third quarter of this year.

There were 52 IPOs in the region between July and September, which together raised €3bn in fresh capital. This represents an eight-fold increase on the same period in 2012, according to the latest PwC IPO watch, which monitors the global activity in IPOs.

The €310m raised in Ireland stemmed from a real estate investment trust (Green REIT) in July. There were also sizeable real estate back IPOs in Britain and Germany.

Denis O’Connor, Partner, Transactions Services, PwC Ireland said, “It has been a difficult few years for the IPO market, however, we have seen the recent successful Green REIT plc listing in Dublin and as we come into the last quarter the outlook is more positive. The pipeline for the year ahead looks encouraging with further PE backed

companies expected to make their debut. In addition, we are also seeing a number of cross-border issuers eyeing the London market.”

Overall, half of the companies that went public over the third quarter were owned by private equity firms. London represented just over half of the market activity for the quarter.

Moreover, PwC reported a sharp increase in companies opting for the IPO route who had shelved or postponed plans to go public over the past three years because of unfavourable market conditions.

The global outlook for the fourth quarter is positive, adds PwC. It notes that the Royal Mail is scheduled for a public offering in Britain, although the market focus will be on the looming multi-billion dollar IPO of Twitter.

“Although we believe investors are still wary of aggressive pricing, the favourable post-IPO share price performance of recent issues continues to underpin investors’ confidence. Globally, the markets appear more resilient in the face of events which previously might have closed IPO windows,” said Mr O’Connor.