Globally, investor sentiment for IPOs was still subdued in the first half of the year. However, with a tripling of the volume to 15 billion dollars, Europe is doing well by international comparison. It was even on a par with the USA in the second quarter – at 9 billion dollars. Six of the ten largest IPOs this year came from Europe. These are the findings of the latest IPO barometer from auditing and consulting firm EY.

Even though private equity firm Permira recently cancelled the IPO of luxury sneaker brand Golden Goose, several billion-euro IPOs took place in Europe. The three largest were Spanish cosmetics and perfume group Puig Brands in Madrid, the Swiss skincare group Galderma in Zurich, and the British private equity firm CVC in Amsterdam. With issue proceeds of 2.9 billion dollars, Puig was also the world's largest IPO of the year.

There were no new IPOs in Germany in the second quarter. However in the first quarter perfumery chain Douglas completed an IPO, defence contractor Renk Group listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and Elaris AG listed on the Munich Stock Exchange. The cumulative volume was around 1.4 billion euros.

Around the world, only 551 companies ventured onto the trading floor in the first half of the year – 12% fewer than in the same period last year. The issue volume also shrank – by 16% to 52.2 billion dollars. Taking just the second quarter, the number of IPOs worldwide fell by 15% to 271 companies, and the decline in volume was even more pronounced with a fall of 31% to 27.8 billion dollars.

IPO activity continued to shift in the second quarter. Asia, usually the world's leading IPO region, once again suffered declines, and Asia's market share fell from 60% to 39%. „The picture is primarily clouded as a result of developments in China,“ commented the analysts at EY. Only 74 IPOs were counted in the People's Republic – a drop of two thirds. Volume also shrank significantly to just 6.3 billion dollars – a drop of 80%. By contrast, the number of IPOs in Europe rose by 10% to 69 and issuance volume tripled to 15.2 billion dollars. The US market also performed significantly better in the first half of the year than in the same period last year. The number of IPOs rose by 27% to 80 and issuance volume climbed by 75% to 17.8 billion dollars.

The technology (10.8 billion dollars) and health/life science (8.9 billion dollars) sectors again accounted for the largest shares of worldwide volume of around 52 billion dollars in the first half of the year. „The global IPO markets show a clear regional shift in IPO activity,“ observes Martin Steinbach, Partner and Head of IPO and Listing Services at EY. „While Asia is experiencing declines, Europe and the US are showing strong results in the first half of the year.“ The momentum for a continuation of higher IPO activity in the second half of the year is good.