European IPO market starts 2026 at record pace, sparking hope of revival
Investment bankers embrace ‘intense’ pitching as groups in defence, tech and wider economy prepare to go public
Europe’s initial public offerings market has recorded its best ever start to a year, sparking hope among investment bankers and investors of a surge in new listings after a prolonged slowdown.
Ammunition maker Czechoslovak Group (CSG) raised €3.8bn on Friday, with its shares soaring 31 per cent for a near-€33bn valuation, passing a key test of market confidence as a series of other large groups prepare to float.
The Prague-based group’s flotation in Amsterdam was by far the largest in Europe this month and propelled the region to its fastest start to the year for IPO fundraising since at least 1995, according to Dealogic data.
Five flotations in the region this month have raised about a quarter of the amount achieved in the whole of 2025.
“This is probably the best IPO market in Europe . . . in over a decade,” said Tom Swerling, global head of equity products at Deutsche Bank.
“This is a calendar and pipeline of assets that will allow us to demonstrate the viability of the IPO market and begin to restore confidence,” he added.
The queue of companies gearing up to list mirrors the US, where big artificial intelligence groups head a crop of potential mega-listings. Elon Musk’s rocket maker SpaceX and tech groups OpenAI and Anthropic are working on IPOs that could raise tens of billions of dollars.
Hong Kong has also been boosted by Chinese AI groups coming to market.
A revival would deliver a fee bonanza for investment banks, which have had to navigate a post-pandemic slowdown in new listings against a backdrop of high interest rates and choppy markets.
“The level of pitching is intense, and there is a much more robust pipeline of deals compared to last year,” said Clara Comellini, head of Emea equity capital markets blocks and wealth management origination at UBS.
Advisers hope CSG’s IPO will add momentum to listing plans of other defence groups such as Franco-German tank maker KNDS and German group Vincorion.
Friday’s listing “materially reinforces confidence in the European IPO market”, said Luca Erpici, head of Emea equity capital markets at Jefferies.
“Investor appetite is also driven by the improving quality and scale of potential IPO candidates,” he said.
A strong rally in European stocks last year has lifted valuations, boosting companies’ chances of attractive pricing in public markets.
However, bankers cautioned that the success of CSG’s listing did not signal the onset of an anything-goes market. Previous predictions of a listings resurgence have been thwarted, including by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs announced last April.
“What I don’t see here is a signal that you can get any size, any pricing, any sector done,” said Andreas Bernstorff, global head of equity capital markets at BNP Paribas. “We’ll continue to have to be structured, careful and cautious in terms of building a transaction.”
Last year Europe hosted 105 IPOs worth €16.1bn, a slight decrease from 2024 and just a fifth of the total raised during the 2021 boom. The region accounted for only a tenth of global IPO fundraising in 2025 as other markets, including the US, saw an uptick in activity.
Bankers pointed to industrials, logistics and technology as sectors ripe for a pick-up in activity in Europe this year.
Advisers are also focused on private equity-backed companies gearing up for long-awaited IPOs as their owners look to sell down their holdings and return cash to investors.
Big private equity-owned groups that could go public this year in Europe include Hg’s €19bn software company Visma, which is targeting a London IPO, €10bn German car marketplace Mobile.de and the $25bn German Industrial group TK Elevators.
These deals’ prospects got a boost in October from the Swedish IPO of security services group Verisure — backed by investor Hellman & Friedman — which raised €3.2bn.
“A lot of sponsors have owned these assets for a long time and are facing internal pressures to monetise, particularly in the face of equity markets at all-time highs,” said Andrew Briscoe, Bank of America’s head of Emea equity capital markets syndicate.
Visma’s listing will be a bellwether for the London market, which is seeking to bounce back after a drought of significant offerings.
Other potential London IPO candidates include the bookseller Waterstones, breakdown assistance provider RAC and Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison’s retail unit AS Watson and its European telecoms business.