IPOs in Q1 2024: Signs of a recovery – More stock market flotations in Switzerland than anywhere else in the world

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• Global issue volume in the first quarter slightly up year on year at USD 23.7 billion; number of flotations down 7% to 287.
• Largest stock market flotation in Q1 2024 that of Galderma from Switzerland. Five IPOs from Europe among the 10 largest flotations worldwide.
• At CHF 2.3 billion, the issue volume of the Galderma flotation is the same amount as all the flotations in Switzerland in 2023 put together and the country's largest since 2017.
• Noticeable improvement in Europe and the United States. Significant deterioration in China.

Zurich, 2 April 2024 - In Europe and the United States, the conditions for stock market flotations in the first quarter of 2024 were considerably more positive than in the same quarter a year earlier. In the United States, there were 49 flotations in total (up from 33 in the first quarter of 2023). The overall volume leapt from USD 2.6 billion to USD 8.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024. It was a similar story in Europe. Although the absolute number in the first quarter of 2024 was slightly down year on year (26, down from 28), the volume (USD 5.9 billion) was nearly treble that of the corresponding quarter in the previous year. These are the results of the latest IPO barometer of the audit and consulting firm EY in Switzerland.

Largest flotation comes from Switzerland

Companies from the health and life science sector accounted for around a quarter of the global issue volume, which amounted to USD 23.7 billion. The largest flotation this year to date also came from this sector: the listing of Galderma Group AG from Switzerland on the SIX Swiss Exchange yielded just under CHF 2.3 billion. That is almost exactly the same volume as all 10 flotations in Switzerland in the past year put together and is the largest IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange since Landis & Gyr in 2017.

“We hope the successful flotation of Galderma will play an important role in providing impetus that will add further momentum to the Swiss capital market,” said Tobias Meyer, Head Transaction Accounting and IPO Services at EY in Switzerland.

The second and third largest IPOs of the first quarter were those of Amer Sports Inc from Finland and Douglas AG from Germany, making it a trio of European companies.

Global picture mixed – significant deterioration in China

In global terms, not everywhere were the underlying conditions as good as in Europe and the United States. At 287, the number of flotations in China was slightly lower than the previous year's figure of 307. The total issue volume did still rise to USD 23.7 billion, up from USD 22.1 billion in the previous year.

The reason for this sideways movement was the significant decline in Asia. In the Asia-Pacific region, the issue volume fell by 56% to USD 5.8 billion, while the number of listings fell by 34% to 119. Weaknesses were evident in the Chinese IPO market in particular, which saw significant year-on-year declines in both the number (from 86 to 42) and volume (from USD 10.4 billion to USD 3.9 billion).

Healthcare and life science companies particularly in demand

The healthcare/life science sector recorded the highest issue volume in the first quarter of 2024, shooting up by 280% to USD 5.9 billion, followed by the technology sector, which generated USD 4.4 billion. The industrials sector led the way with 59 listings, even though the total issue volume amounted to just USD 4.1 billion. Technology was next, with 53 flotations (compared with 63 in the previous year).

Assessing the situation, Tobias Meyer said: “Globally, inflation fell further and central banks began to cut key interest rates. Because of this, we are cautiously optimistic about the performance of the IPO markets in 2024. This is also reflected by the fact that around two-thirds of all private equity firms expect an increase in IPO activity this year.”

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EY’s organization is represented in Switzerland by Ernst & Young Ltd, Basel, with 10 offices across Switzerland, and in Liechtenstein by Ernst & Young AG, Vaduz. In this publication, “EY” and “we” refer to Ernst & Young Ltd, Basel, a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.