PwC: this year could be as good for IPOs as 2017

This year could be as good for IPO on the WSE as 2017, but MAR regulations may cause the withdrawal of many companies from the stock exchange, PwC consultancy said in its report. “In 2018 we can expect further intensified activity on the capital market, this will apply to both stock market debuts (prospectuses from over a dozen companies are currently being approved by the Financial Supervision Authority KNF) as well as possible transfers from NewConnect to the main market (in 2017 there were seven such transactions, several more are in the pipeline),” PwC said. “On the other hand, 2018 will be another year in which we’ll see an increased M&A and delisting activity. Such situation may particularly apply to smaller companies for which the introduction of the MAR regulation turned out to be too heavy a burden, as well as issuers with attractive valuation, which are a good target of acquisitions,” the report added. Last year, there were 27 IPO on WSE with eight of them on the main market. At the same time, 20 firms were delisted.