Europe’s IPO Drought Has Stock Exchanges Battling for Listings

As fewer large companies opt to go public in Europe, the region’s stock exchanges are fighting harder to win the biggest listings.

Stockholm, Amsterdam, Zurich and London recently went head-to-head to vie for Hellman & Friedman’s initial public offering of Verisure. The Swedish exchange proved triumphant due to the €20 billion ($22.8 billion) security firm’s history in the country and the strength of the local investment community, according to people familiar with the matter.