Private Equity Deals Dent European IPO Pipeline as Stocks Waver

  • Takeovers welcomed by firms struggling to raise cash via IPOs
  • Two recent listings hopefuls were instead bought out

Takeover offers can be a welcome respite for private firms struggling to raise cash via IPOs.

Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
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Private equity firms are snapping up initial public offering candidates, eating into a fast-depleting European pipeline at a time when companies are shelving listing plans.

At least two IPO hopefuls were recently bought out: bus and train operator Flix SE’s listing plan was taken off the table when investment firm EQT AB teamed up with German logistics tycoon Klaus-Michael Kühne to acquire a 35% stake. Platinum Equity agreed a deal Bloomberg Terminalfor Nordic Capital’s German wheelchair maker Sunrise Medical barely a week after the company laid out IPO plans.