Recently, the traditional shoe company Birkenstock moved its listing to the USA, and now the next potential setback for the German financial market could be looming. The most valuable German unicorn, software company Celonis, is planning to go public in New York next year, according to reports from investment bankers. The Munich-based company not only has a growing US business but also a second headquarters in the USA. In the latest funding round in the summer of 2022, Celonis was valued at nearly $13 billion. The owners include the founders, as well as venture capital firm Accel Partners and the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar.

Celonis founders and executives have never been secretive about the possibility of the company eventually going public, but they are downplaying expectations that the plan has become concrete. A spokesperson commented on the information that Celonis is aiming for an IPO in New York next year by saying, “That's purely speculative.“ She did not provide further details.

The company emphasizes that there is neither a time pressure nor a capital requirement for an imminent move to the stock market. The business is doing well, and the investors have a long-term orientation, showing no urgency for an IPO. Among them, in addition to Accel Partners based in California, are other Anglo-American investment firms like Franklin Templeton, also based in California, and 83 North with its headquarters in London.

An IPO in the USA would be plausible not only due to the company's ownership and second headquarters in New York but also because Celonis counts US corporations such as GE, Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson, as well as Pepsico among its clients. Celonis has opened a number of its over 20 branches in the USA, including locations in Chicago and San Francisco.

Celonis continues to see significant growth potential for its business, not only in Europe and the USA but also in Japan. The company is not active in China. Utilizing its Process Mining technology, as claimed by Celonis, thousands of customers can analyze various data to enhance their business processes, leading to immediate improvements in financial liquidity, increased customer satisfaction, and reduced environmentally harmful emissions. The company has not disclosed financial figures for several years, but it has mentioned that its revenue has more than doubled year-on-year

Celonis wouldn't be alone in pursuing an IPO in New York. The German intercity bus operator FlixBus, which has the US financial investor General Atlantic among its major shareholders and which owns the US-based Greyhound buses, is also rumored to have plans for a US listing. However, it's worth noting that German companies that have listed on the US stock exchange in New York have not all been successful, despite the generally larger and more liquid US capital market.

One example of less successful or mixed performance includes the initial drop in Birkenstock's share price at the beginning of trading in October. Currently, the value is 16% below the offering price. The recent collapse of Signa Sports United, an internet sports equipment retailer owned by the René Benko empire, also had an impact. This company went public in the US via a merger with a SPAC in 2021. The German COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers BioNTech and CureVac have also faced challenges in New York. BioNTech, which had reached a market capitalization of 100 billion euros at one point, has halved since December 2022, now standing at 20 billion euros, roughly at the IPO level. CureVac's stock price has dropped by half just since June, hitting a record low of 5 euros, with a market capitalization of 1 billion euros. The Berlin-based specialty chemicals company Atotech, which Carlyle took public in New York in 2021, was eventually acquired by a US competitor.

While the volume of IPOs in the US has doubled this year, in Europe it has fallen to its lowest level since 2013. Almost all European IPOs this year are trading below their offering prices. One notable exception is the pharmaceutical packaging company Schott Pharma, which has experienced a special boost thanks to the demand for new syringes amid the pandemic.

The tank transmission manufacturer Renk, owned by Triton, and the French software company Planisware have halted their IPOs at the last moment, while the tank card provider DKV Mobility, in which CVC is involved, has abandoned its IPO plans for this year. The financial investor CVC itself, which aimed for a public listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, is currently pausing its plans due to the prevailing market conditions.