IPO activity in Britain in the first quarter of the year was the lowest seen for over a decade, a survey showed today.
KPMG Corporate Finance said only two companies listed on the official list of the London Stock Exchange, and one of them, Orange, represented almost all the £3.99 billion sterling raised.
"The IPO market is dead," said Mr Neil Austin, head of new issues at KPMG. "This is the lowest level of activity we have seen for over a decade and there is no evidence of a pick up."
The flotation of France Telecom's mobile unit Orange in February highlighted dismal investor demand for fresh listings, valuing the firm at less than a third of the euro 150 billion France Telecom originally aimed for.
The other trading firm to list on LSE, Caffe Nero - one of a number of branded coffee chains which have mushroomed on Britain's streets in a market worth nearly £1 billion - joined the market on March 23rd and raised £9 million, valuing the 58-strong chain at £33.7 million pounds.
The picture was similar across Europe, KPMG said, with a total of euro 9 billion raised in the quarter - a third of the money raised for the same period last year.
