Europe’s market for initial public offerings has made its strongest start to a year since the pandemic, as new highs for stocks and the prospect of interest rate cuts raise hopes for a sustained recovery in listings. Companies have raised $3.2bn in European IPOs since January, more than double the amount over the same period last year, a performance that puts the market on track for the best first quarter since 2021, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.
The market was given fresh momentum last week after two private-equity owned companies set out IPO plans in a bid to take advantage of the more benign conditions. Germany beauty retailer Douglas, owned by CVC, is aiming to raise €1.1bn on the Frankfurt stock exchange and is seeking a valuation of €6bn. Dermatology group Galderma, controlled by Swedish buyout group EQT, revealed it is seeking to raise $2.3bn in an IPO on the Swiss bourse. “We are at the early stage of a recovery in the IPO cycle,” said Suneel Hargunani, the co-head of equity capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Citigrou