The proceeds from the stock market debut of German web hosting company IONOS Group SE on Wednesday are expected to be 447 million euros (480.6 million U.S. dollars). This was the largest IPO globally so far this year, according to EY.
With an emission volume of 383 million U.S. dollars, the IPO of China's Cinda Securities Co. Ltd at the beginning of February was the second largest, followed by China's Hubei Jianghan New Materials Co. Ltd. with 352 million U.S. dollars.
Globally, the IPO year 2023 started "quite weak," EY said. In January, 77 IPOs raised a total of 2.55 billion U.S. dollars only. In the same period of 2022, 98 IPOs raked in 31.91 billion U.S. dollars.
"In the past year, the IPO pipeline has continued to build," Martin Steinbach, partner and head of IPO and Listing Services at EY, said in a statement. "Some of the IPO candidates that did not make it in 2022 due to the poor market environment are waiting for the right moment."
Following the record year of 2021, the number of IPOs in 2022 worldwide fell by 45 percent to 1,333, and the issue volume even dropped by 61 percent to 180 billion U.S. dollars, according to a previous EY study.
The largest IPO last year was the stock market debut of South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution, raising 10.7 billion U.S. dollars. German luxury sports car manufacturer Porsche AG came in second, followed by mobile communications provider China Mobile.
After the low point in October last year, general conditions have improved. "Volatility has fallen steadily," Steinbach said. At the same time, stock markets developed positively, so "higher valuations also seem to be within reach again."
For 2023, EY is cautiously optimistic and expects a recovery particularly in the second half of the year. "Currently, global IPO activity is predominantly taking place in the Asian region. In Europe and the U.S., the market will probably need a few more months to regain momentum," Steinbach said. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollar)
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