AFME is pleased to circulate its Equity Primary Markets and Trading Report for the second quarter of 2023 (Q2 2023). The report provides an update on the performance of the equity market in Europe in activities such as primary issuance, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), equity liquidity structure, and market valuations.
 

Key findings:

• Equity underwriting on European exchanges for the first half of 2023 rose 28% YoY on the back of stronger secondary equity offerings.
  • IPOs accumulated €1.3bn in deal value in Q2’23, the lowest Q2 amount since 2009. For the first-half total, IPOs declined 42% also representing the lowest H1 amount since 2009.
  • European SPAC IPOs have visibly declined from a peak of €3.2bn in Q2’21 to no deals in Q1’23 and €0.9bn in Q2’23.
• Completed Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) during H1’23 declined when measured as announced value (-45% YoY) and when measured as completed value (-46% YoY).
  • De-SPACS represented 1.4% of the total M&A value announced during H1’23, below the proportion observed during 2021FY (5%) but the same proportion of 2022FY (1.4%).
• Average daily equity trading on European main markets and MTFs stood at €79.9bn in H1’23, a 14% decrease compared to H1’22.
• Double Volume Cap (DVC) update: The number of instruments suspended under the DVC stood at 313 in July 2023 (551 in December 2022).
  • By geographical location, 198 of the 313 suspended instruments have EU ISINs (or 63% of the total number of suspended instruments), 7 have UK ISINs (2% of suspensions) and 104 from the rest of the world (or 35% of suspensions).
• European equity trading mix: According to BigXYT data, on-venue trading represented 72% of the total addressable liquidity in Q2’23. Volume traded off-venues, on systematic internalisers and pure OTC, represent the remaining 28% of the volume of the total addressable liquidity.