09.2 Blockbuster European Tech IPOs “ Since 2014, European tech companies have IPO’d at rates far exceeding that of US tech companies – European markets, like European tech has London’s AIM, are structured to support tech listings of all sizes, and Europe’s public market investors back them. But as Europe has arrived, and whether stretched its lead with smaller caps, 2018 also heralded the arrival of they’re valued in tens of a series of long awaited, high profile listings, all well in excess of $1bn in market cap, and a surge of Fintech companies on public markets. millions or tens of billions, European tech has arrived, and whether they’re valued in tens of millions or tens of billions, they bust the myths about European tech they bust the myths about with each new listing.” European tech with each James Clark new listing. London Stock Exchange In the US, for example, most tech IPOs tend to be sponsor-backed. This means there are financial investors, whether VCs or PE funds, that play a ‘sponsoring’ role in bringing these companies to the public market. While the numbers of sponsor-backed tech IPOs per region are similar in Europe and the US, because Europe sees far more IPO, the percentage share of European tech IPOs that are ‘sponsored’ are typically lower, which is a reflection of The number of sponsor-backed tech IPOs is stable both in a greater diversity in types of companies that have access to public markets. Europe and the US # of sponsor-backed tech IPOs by region 15 14 LEGEND Europe s O 11 P I US h 10 10 10 c 10 e t 9 d e k c 8 8 a b - r 7 o s n 6 po s f 5 o # 3 3 0 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 9M Source: European tech IPOs far exceed those in the US by volume due to the fact that European Many more European tech SMEs choose to go public capital markets are supportive of enabling companies of all sizes by enterprise value, indicating Europe's supportive listing environment for earlier whether $1B+ or sub-$100M, to come to market. stage companies # of tech IPOs with less than $1B market cap 62 at IPO by year and region O60 P 56 I t a p a c LEGEND t50 46 e k Europe r ma B US 140 36 $ n a h t 29 s 28 s e30 l h t 23 wi s O20 16 P I 15 15 h c 11 e t f o 10 # 0 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 9M Source: 131 In Partnership with & www.thestateofeuropeantech.com