European venture-backed IPO activity down in 2007

However, the report also shows that the markets continue to see great value in European IPO companies, as the median amount raised at IPO approached €15.8m in 2007, a six-year high. Likewise, the median pre-valuation for these companies reached €59.2m, the most since 2000.

The largest IPO of the year was energy exploration company ElectroMagnetic GeoServices of Trondheim, Norway, which raised €94.9m in its March offering.

Jessica Canning, director of global research for Dow Jones VentureSource, said, ‘In a reversal of fortunes, after two years of healthy interest from the public exchanges, European venture-backed companies saw the IPO market pull back in 2007.

‘While this year’s IPO total is a significant drop, it is still head and shoulders above the anaemic markets we saw in 2002 and 2003. Investors can find solace in the fact that, despite fewer public offerings, the median amount raised by venture-backed companies at IPO is at the highest level since 2001.’

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