London leads dismal European IPO market

London was the center of the IPO action in Europe last year. According to data from PwC, mandadeals.co.uk reports, there were 78 European IPOs last year – a drop of 83 percent YOY. Proceeds amounted to only £714 million. London dominated the scene, accounting for 92 percent of the IPO capital raised in Europe last year. Says Mark Hughes, capital markets partner at PwC: ‘Looking at the year as a whole, London has continued to lead the European IPO landscape with international and natural resources IPOs making up for the weakness of the domestic IPO market.'

The article over at mandadeals.co.uk also includes some interesting advice, from PwC capital markets partner Richard Weaver: ‘Companies considering an IPO in 2012 should prepare and position themselves to be “ready to go” when the windows open.' Since it's hard to tell when the window will open, there's a certain value in having everything ready to go when the opportunity arises. This is likely the thinking in the US, where a record number of companies is in the IPO pipeline, having filed but not yet gone public.

Click here for FREE email alerts from Inside IPO >>

Source: mandadeals.co.uk

Photo: JohnGoode via Flickr