Despite a dip in U.K. IPOs, London is still Europe's share sale capital
London remains Europe’s top venue for sales of shares in listed companies, despite a drought in UK initial public offerings.
There have been $11.3 billion worth of equity deals excluding IPOs in London so far in 2024, a jump of almost 24% on a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
While that number is a far cry from levels seen in the City of London before a surge in inflation and interest rates since 2022 upended the market, it dwarfs figures from European rivals.
“We are well ahead of the other markets that we are often contrasted with, be it Amsterdam, be it Frankfurt,” said Dru Danford, head of investment banking at London-based stockbroker Liberum. “London outperforms all those European competitors.”
Two major sell-downs of existing stakes dominated London’s tally for this year. GSK Plc exited from Panadol painkiller maker Haleon Plc, as the pharma giant sold its remaining 12.9% stake in chunks, for gross proceeds of about £3.9 billion ($4.9 billion). A consortium of former owners of Refinitiv, a data firm that London Stock Exchange Group Plc acquired for $27 billion in 2021, sold down the last of their stake in LSEG for £1.6 billion after a similarly-sized deal earlier this year.
A higher number of companies have been active in London, however, with share sales involving more than 60 firms this year, compared with 12 on the Paris exchange and just four in Frankfurt, the data shows.
The scorecard underlines London’s leading role in the European equity capital market during a global downturn in fundraisings. Companies raised £39.2 billion pounds in London in 2021, before a 61% slump the following year, the Bloomberg data shows.
Companies raising funds through so-called follow-on offerings in London this year include real estate group Segro Plc and utility Pennon Group Plc. Share sales have also been seen in auto parts maker TI Fluid Systems Plc and greetings card retailer Moonpig Group Plc. Another eye-catching deal was Delivery Hero SE’s sale of an £83 million chunk of takeout delivery firm Deliveroo Plc, exiting its holding.
Paris has the second-highest fundraising tally in US dollar terms, at $3.4 billion. That was driven by Sartorius Stedim Biotech’s €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) share sale and by French investment firm Wendel SE selling its stake in goods inspection company Bureau Veritas SA for about €1.1 billion after a surge in its shares.
London’s IPO scene, on the other hand, has been moribund. Its slice of the market for new offerings slumped to 2% this month, the tiniest in decades, as IPOs on the continental rebound from a lull.
There are more promising signs around listings in the UK capital, though, with reports suggesting China-founded fashion retailer Shein is headed for a huge London offering. British personal computer-maker Raspberry Pi has also confirmed that it’s considering a UK share sale.
The London exchange also remains Europe’s busiest by daily value traded. But the market capitalization of primary listings in Paris is now higher. Some companies, including construction supplier CRH Plc and gambling group Flutter Plc have chosen to shift their main listings from London to the US in search of higher valuations.
“Ultimately, the market we’re really up against is New York,” said Liberum’s Danford.
