The survey suggests some of the attractions of investing in a listing include an attractive starting share price and growth potential, as well as incentives. But overvalued shares, insufficient allocations and general market uncertainty were considered common drawbacks.
While PwC acknowledges that activity in the UK in the second half of 2015 was slowed by the general election and the turmoil in China, IPOs last year “have shown strong aftermarket performance”.
It notes 43 of the 51 listings in London that had raised more than $50m (£35m) were trading above their offer price and with an average share price performance of 16 per cent. In addition, 15 of the IPOs had joined the FTSE 250 index by the end of the year.
Recent research from PwC shows that there have been nine listings in London in 2016, to the end of February, including three Alternative Investment Market IPOs and six on the main market, with total proceeds reaching around £1.3bn.
Mark Hughes, capital markets leader at PwC, adds: “Given more challenging conditions, the London market has been remarkably resilient, accounting for more than 70 per cent of proceeds raised across Europe.
“We expect markets to slow down ahead of the referendum but then pick up in the second half of the year. There remains a healthy pipeline of quality London IPO candidates looking to list later in 2016.”
Nyree Stewart is features editor at Investment Adviser
