Yahoo Finance Europe’s IPO Revival Sputters as Buyout Firms Get Cold Feet
(Bloomberg) -- A rebound in Europe’s initial public offerings market is faltering as private equity firms are getting increasingly nervous about taking companies public.
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Permira-backed Golden Goose Group SpA shelved its Milan IPO this week, while clothing retailer Tendam has also decided to postpone plans to list this summer in Madrid, according to people familiar with the matter. Tendam, backed by CVC Capital Partners Plc and PAI Partners, made the decision because of stock-market weakness, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
The pulled listings come amid a rise in volatility in Europe’s stock market, triggered by French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call a snap election. The Euro Stoxx 50 Volatility Index rose 6.6 points last week, the biggest jump in more than a year, while the Stoxx 600 Index posted its biggest weekly decline since October.
The shelved IPOs are putting a damper on the revival of the listings market. European offerings have raised about $14 billion in 2024, more than twice as much as in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s been helped by some big private equity-backed offerings, like EQT AB’s float of skincare business Galderma Group AG, CVC’s own IPO and that of perfume retailer Douglas AG.
The sputtering market also adds to the challenge facing buyout firms, which are under increasing pressure to exit companies and return cash to investors. With the market volatile, and a still-wide gap between buyers and sellers, exits — via either sales or listings — are proving difficult.
“The bigger question is who do PE funds sell assets to now?” said James Congdon, who runs Canaccord Genuity’s Quest research unit. “We think they will need to either sell to corporates, many of whom have been on capex holidays, or bite the bullet and list at lower valuations on public markets.”
To be sure, some firms may try again later this year. Tendam has been posting steady revenue growth and will eye a return to the IPO market in the coming months, the people familiar said. Representatives for Tendam, CVC and PAI declined to comment.
And there are other sponsor-backed listings in the works, even if the second-half pipeline in Europe is thinner than the first half. Among these are CVC-backed Polish retailer Zabka Polska SA and Springer Nature, an academic publisher that counts BC Partners among its backers.
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