Billion-Dollar Firms Kick Open European IPO Window: ECM Watch

(Bloomberg) — The window for initial public offerings in Europe has opened in earnest this week, with a flurry of listings indicating the tariff-induced caution that disrupted deals earlier in the year has passed.

Swedish financial services group NOBA Bank Group AB said Thursday it plans an IPO in Stockholm this month. Meanwhile, SMG Swiss Marketplace Group AG’s shareholders will seek as much as 903 million Swiss francs ($1.1 billion), teeing up what could be Europe’s largest listing yet this year.

Seeing larger issuers finally wading into the market is a welcome sign for European capital markets, after volatility stemming from April’s tariff announcements waylaid bigger issuances in the spring and summer.

“Several major IPO candidates with strong and sustainable business models are already in the final stages of preparation,” said Thorsten Pauli, Bank of America Corp.’s head of equity capital markets for Germany, Switzerland and Austria. “Switzerland has several high‑quality assets in the pipeline that should create momentum in Europe, and Sweden’s IPO market has been a bright spot this year.”

European IPO volume has been muted, with less than $7 billion raised this year, and fewer large deals. No company’s raised more than $1 billion dollars in an IPO this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, compared with a trio of multibillion-dollar deals that had gone through last year.

There was enough demand to cover SMG’s full deal size less than an hour after orders started to be taken, according to terms seen by Bloomberg. That’s a welcome sign for the market, after companies called off deals and pushed back plans in the summer.

“SMG is a great asset, which also explains the high interest and narrow range,” said Bastian Schiedat, Berenberg’s head of equity syndicate for continental Europe. “Especially coming out of a phase with less activity, it could create a lot of confidence with investors if they manage to trade it up in the aftermarket.”

NOBA Bank’s private equity owner, Nordic Capital, in June had delayed the IPO, citing market volatility. OP Financial Group, DNB Asset Management and Handelsbanken Fonder agreed to buy shares in the offering at a valuation of as much as $3.7 billion, indicating strong demand for the stock. It’ll be the largest European bank to list on the continent since 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Still, there may be even larger deals ahead for Europe. Security firm Verisure is considering kicking off an IPO in Stockholm as soon as this year, Bloomberg News reported last month.

“Verisure and Noba will be two important IPOs for the Swedish and European IPO market,” said Carl Rosenius, head of corporate finance at Danske Bank Sweden. “There are more listings planned later this fall and a pipe building in 2026. The Swedish capital market continues to be relatively strong compared to other European countries.”

Other markets such as Germany could see increased IPO activity before the year is out, with prosthetic maker Ottobock SE among those firms considering listings during the current window. Two of the country’s main industrial conglomerates are also planning spinoffs.

“It is encouraging to see that there are good companies again” planning to list, Oliver Diehl, co-head of ECM for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. said “There are some good assets that prefer an IPO to a sale for various reasons.”

London, which has been hit particularly hard by a drought in IPOs, could also see some new offerings over the coming months. LED mask maker The Beauty Tech Group Ltd. unveiled plans to list in London earlier this week, while specialist lender Shawbrook Group Plc and Princes Ltd., a unit of Milan-listed food group NewPrinces SpA, are also weighing going public this year subject to market conditions, Bloomberg has reported.

“More pipeline candidates are testing the market and looking to be ready to execute if conditions continue to stabilize and valuation expectations continue to align,” Tom Godwin, capital markets partner at law firm Freshfields said. “So we see a window for some of those deals to come through this year.”

ECM situations that Bloomberg is following:

Nebius Group raised about $3.75 billion through selling convertible notes and stock as the firm looks to buy more land and computing resources following a massive contract with Microsoft. Nordic Capital will remain NOBA Bank’s largest shareholder after its upcoming IPO, but intends to eventually end its ownership in the bank, a partner at the private equity firm said. Dubai Investments is in talks with banks to list Dubai Investments Park Development Co., a unit that operates one of the emirate’s largest mixed-use real estate developments, its CEO said in an interview. Here are full pipelines of the ECM events Bloomberg is following in EMEA, US, Canada and the Americas, and Asia Pacific.

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