Lockdown Winners Drive Europe’s IPO Market to Surpass 2019

  • U.K. leads way with more than $11 billion of deals this year
  • By number of deals, Oslo is busiest venue in Europe for 2020
Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
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The European market for initial public offerings raised more money than in 2019, defying the coronavirus crisis and nail-biting Brexit negotiations this year, led by companies that benefited from pandemic-induced lockdowns.

European exchanges hosted 161 IPOs and counting, worth a combined $28.3 billion, surpassing the $26.7 billion raised over 136 listings in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This remains only a fraction of global issuance, blown out of the water by the 893 deals worth $134.3 billion in the Asia Pacific region and the record-busting $174.1 billion raised in 483 U.S. deals.