WSE’s IPOs value in Q1 2021 exceeds numbers of entire year 2020

In the first quarter of 2021, eight IPOs were recorded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, compared to 3 in the same period last year. The total value of the IPOs carried out on the WSE in the first quarter (jointly on the regulated market and NewConnect) amounted to as much as PLN 1.8 billion, of which PLN 1.7 billion (€371.8 million) was the IPO of the producer of the mobile games Huuuge Games. It was the second-largest debut on the Polish stock exchange after Allegro.eu since 2018. Thanks to the offer worth PLN 1.7 billion, the debut of Huuuge Games was among the 15 largest IPOs in Europe in the first quarter of 2021. The second debut recorded on the main market was the IPO of Answear.com, a company from the e-commerce sector, which acquired PLN 80.5 million (€17.9 million). In the first quarter of 2021, there were also two changes from NewConnect to the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Technology companies invariably dominate the alternative NewConnect market. Among the six debutants, the largest offer was placed by Genomtec – the value of the offer was PLN 8.0 million (€1.8 million). It was followed by companies from the gaming sector: United Label, Simteract, Incuvo, and Kool2Play.

“The activity on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in recent quarters and the debuts announced for 2021 indicate that the WSE birthday year may also turn out to be a time to return to the top European stock exchanges. For the Polish capital market, the last six months have not only been the period of the three bests (the largest IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange – Allegro; the largest IPO of a gaming company – Huuuge Games; the largest debut of Polish business – InPost on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange), but also an influx of new issuers on the NewConnect and the regulated market as well as announcements of further transactions – local and international,” Bartosz Margol, director in the PwC capital markets team, said.

PwC experts remind that the KNF received, among others, Issue prospectuses of Emitel, Cavatina Holding, Shoper and returning after the public offering of Canal + Polska interrupted in autumn. In their opinion, subsequent offers – the already completed Captor Therapeutics (companies from the biotechnology sector) or the IPO of Vercom's communication solution providers planned in April - prove the great interest of investors and issuers themselves.

(WBJ)