Europe and EMEIA (the Middle East, India, and Africa) have maintained their position as the leading IPO market globally in the first three quarters of 2024, according to the latest EY Global IPO Trends report.
The report reveals strong market debuts, positive monetary and inflation environment and growing investor interest despite a challenging market globally for IPOs.
"The continued resurgence of IPO activity in Europe and the wider EMEIA region is very positive after several challenging years," said Fergal McAleavey, EY Ireland Corporate Finance Partner.
"For the first three quarters of 2024, EMEIA has outpaced both Asia and the Americas by both IPO volume and value, something which would not have seemed realistic even 12 months ago."
EMEIA recorded 394 deals in the first three quarters of 2024, up 36% on the same period in 2023.
EMEIA's IPO proceeds up by 45% to $30.3 billion compared to the same period last year.
In spite of the positive performance in both EMEIA and the Americas markets, globally IPOs are down 11% by volume and 23% by value compared to the same period in 2023 as negative sentiment in Asia weighs on the overall market.
There were a number of very strong candidates coming to the market, such as the listing of dermatological products company Gladerma (currently valued at €18 billion), Private Equity and credit manager CVC Partners (currently valued at €22 billion) and Polish convenience store Zabka (currently valued at €5.3 billion).
In Ireland, the Government's recent budget introduced tax relief of up to €1m on expenses relating to an IPO from next year, which Mr McAleavey said, "should hopefully encourage more companies to consider an IPO in Ireland".
"Importantly, however, there are very significant levels of available 'dry powder’ from the private markets (private equity, venture capital and private credit) giving strong companies multiple alternative funding options for growth."
While globally IPO activity remains well below the highs of 2021, conditions are looking more positive for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025.
Central banks are in an interest rate reduction mode, as it appears inflation is under control.
The leading stock markets such as Nasdaq, NYSE, S&P 500 and FTSE 100 are all at all-time highs.
"These factors coupled with increased consumer confidence, the major electoral cycles now completed, and a backlog of PE and VC portfolio companies should lead to a significant upswing in IPOs globally," Mr McAleavey said.
