AFME is pleased to circulate its Equity Primary Markets and Trading Report for the first quarter of 2019 (2Q 2019).
The report provides an update on the performance of the equity market in Europe in areas such as primary issuance, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), trading, and equity valuations.
Key highlights:
- Equity underwriting on European exchanges accumulated a total of €64.2 bn in proceeds in 1H19, a 19% decrease from the value originated in 1H18 (€79.5 bn).
IPO issuance in 1H19 decreased 43% against the amount issued in 1H18. Likewise, IPOs on Junior markets totalled €0.7 bn in proceeds in 1H19, the lowest 1H amount since 2013.
76 IPOs were issued on European exchanges during 1H19— the lowest 1H deal volume since 2013
- Completed Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) of European companies totalled €416.9 bn in 1H19, a decrease of 22% from the amount completed in 1H18 (€534.7 bn), driven by a 43% decline in intra-European deals (i.e. acquisition of European companies by other European companies*).
APAC firms represented 65% of the inbound deal value (or €96.7bn), a sharp increase from 28% of the 2018FY inbound value.
Private Equity-backed M&A activity (“Sponsor” deals) declined 7.3% YoY, which represents the lowest 1H amount since 2014.
The amount of announced M&A deals totalled €416.8 bn in 1H19, a 22% decrease from 1H18.
- Equity trading activity on European main markets and MTFs generated a total of €3.7 tn in turnover value in 1H19, a decrease of 17% from 1H18 (€4.5 tn)
- Update on MiFID II dark trading caps:
In March 2018, ESMA published the double volume cap (DVC) data files specifying the securities that surpassed the MiFID II limits of total dark trading on EU venues.
The number of banned instruments from dark trading has decreased from 755 in March 2018 and from 1,262 in August 2018 to 285 in July 2019, as recently banned instruments complete their 6-month suspension period started during 2018.
