Ukraine war slows Italian IPO market, new wave seen next spring

Technoprobe

20/10/2022 16:41

MILAN, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The war in Ukraine put the
brake on stock market listings in Italy this year and it could
take until next May-June to see the market for Initial Public
Offerings (IPOs) pick up, a Euronext official said on Thursday.
    In the first nine months of 2022 in Italy there were 21 new
IPOs for a total of 1.4 billion euros ($1.38 billion), according
to Patrizia Celia, Head of Market Intelligence Primary Markets
Italy at Euronext, the owner of the Milan exchange.
    The government in Rome had already said it was looking at
overhauling listing, voting and other rules to address the
"chronic delays" holding back the country's capital markets and
boost Milan's ability to compete with larger European peers.
    While last year there were 49 IPOs, a high for the last
decade, 2022 got off to a "good start" but the war in Ukraine
slowed things down.
    "The conflict and the macroeconomic consequences together
with a drop in market valuations made it more expensive in terms
of opportunity-cost ratio to take a company to the stock market,
with a slowdown in IPOs,", said Celia at an event in Milan.
    Electrode maker Industrie De Nora  DNR.MI  listed in June
and its shares have risen since. However, energy group Eni
 ENI.MI  put plans to list its Plenitude renewable business on
ice because of market conditions.
    Celia said some large and medium-sized companies might try
to test the waters early in 2023, but added it was "more likely
we should wait until May-June to see new IPOs return to the
market."
    She had some advice for those companies already at work on
potential listings.
    "It is crucial that they prove to investors that they are
resilient, that they operate in sectors that will continue to
grow despite the recession," she said.
 
    ($1 = 1.0173 euros)
 (Reporting Sara Rossi
editing by Keith Weir)
 ((sara.rossi@thomsonreuters.com; +39 06 8030 7736;))