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Despite the corona crisis, according to a study, more companies worldwide dared to go public on the stock market this year than in 2019. The number of IPOs rose by 15 percent to 1,322, according to an analysis by the consulting and auditing company EY.
The global issuance volume climbed by 26 percent to 263 billion dollars, the highest level since 2010. However, only twelve German companies dared to enter the trading floor.
"At first glance it seems absurd that IPOs are booming in such a difficult year as 2020," said EY expert Martin Steinbach.
An important driver is still the "enormously high liquidity that is in the market and is looking for investment opportunities." The pandemic also led to a surge in digitization, from which IPOs by technology companies would have benefited.
According to the information, 33 percent of global issuing proceeds came from IPOs of technology companies, which accounted for 24 percent of all transactions.
In second place were IPOs (Initial Public Offering) by companies in the healthcare sector.
No. 1 IPO: USA
There was a spirit of optimism, especially in the USA and China.
Issues in the United States rose 69 percent to $ 86 billion.
The number of transactions climbed 32 percent to 222. China - including Hong Kong - recorded a 51 percent increase in issuing volume to 116 billion dollars, and the number of IPOs rose 41 percent to 514.
The three largest IPOs in the world come from China: In place is that of the Chinese chip manufacturer Semiconductor Manufacturing International with 7.6 billion dollars, followed by the first issue of the online retailer JD.com with 4.5 billion dollars.
In third place is the high-speed rail operator Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway, with an issue volume of $ 4.4 billion.
Stock exchange plans suffer from price fluctuations
In Europe, however, growth was comparatively modest: the issue volume climbed by nine percent to $ 27 billion.
EY also sees room for improvement in Germany.
According to the information, twelve companies found their way onto the stock market in various ways.
Nine of them went public in Frankfurt and raised a total of 1.1 billion euros.
Three companies decided to go public in New York.
Among them was the Tübingen biotech company Curevac, which is working on a corona vaccine.
"The German IPO market had to struggle with headwinds in the first half of the year," said Steinbach.
Because of the price fluctuations at the beginning of the pandemic, some companies have put their stock market plans on hold for the time being.
Activities picked up again in the second half of the year.
The EY expert is confident that business will pick up in the new year.
"We anticipate an increase in IPO activity and twelve to 16 IPOs in 2021."
However, IPOs have hardly played a role in Germany for years.
Many companies traditionally prefer to finance themselves through loans from their house banks or issue bonds.
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caw / dpa-AFX / Reuters