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IPO market continues to recover

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PricewaterhouseCoopers' latest IPO Watch Europe survey, tracking volume and value of IPOs on Europe's main stock exchanges, shows a continuing recovery in the IPO market in the first quarter of 2004. There were 56 IPOs between 1 January and 31 March, considerably higher than the 15 recorded in the same period of 2003. The total offering value of IPOs in the first quarter was E5,240m, a big increase on last quarter's figure of E2,628m. This rise can be largely explained by the high value IPO of Belgacom (E3,290m on Euronext) that accounted for 63% of the total offering value on all exchanges in the quarter. Tom Troubridge, head of PricewaterhouseCoopersâ€™ London capital markets group, said: 'activity in the first quarter of 2004 indicates a continued recovery in the European IPO market which remains open for business for the right kind of companies.' London and Euronext remain the dominant exchanges, accounting for some 88% of total IPOs in the quarter, while Scandinavia is also showing promise. However, confidence is fragile and can easily be undermined by global economic or political events. Dublin experienced its first IPO since 2001, also with a telecoms company, Eircom, raising E296m - the second largest IPO in Europe this quarter - with a dual listing in London. The third largest IPO was fertiliser manufacturer Yara that raised E292m in Oslo, while the fourth largest was Portuguese media company Media Capital that raised E217m on Euronext. Oriflame, a cosmetics company, floated in Stockholm but Athens, the Borsa Italiana, Copenhagen, the Deutsche BÃ¶rse, Helsinki, Luxembourg and Madrid all went without an IPO in the quarter. Warsaw, which has been included in IPO Watch Europe for the first time this quarter, showed signs of promise with an increase in the number of IPOs from one to three.