IPO activity has been very slow on the Dutch Euronext stock market. There were 4 IPOs brought to the market in 2018 but none in 2019. This fall in activity was felt worldwide as IPOs dropped by 20% to 1,243 new listings. Capital raised also fell 8% to around $205 billion USD. The main cause in the drop was geopolitical uncertainties in the major financial markets in the US, UK and Hong Kong.
Uncertainty in the Dutch markets
Richard Walker, Head Trader at Agency Desk, LLC in New York said “There were a lot of situations recently in political and economic areas that brought uncertainty to the Dutch financial markets. So of course investors are going to be a little more cautious in any dealings they decide to get into. Hopefully when things settle down soon we will see more IPOs in 2020.”
Walker added that “2019 also saw a few large IPOs underperform market expectations, so this put a damper on the number of new listings.”
One Dutch company Walker thinks could go public this year is up and coming biotech firm NorthSea Therapeutics B.V.
NorthSea Therapeutics raised $40 million USD
Dutch biotech NorthSea Therapeutics successfully raised $40 million USD (€36 million EUR) in a Series B funding earlier this month for the development of a fish oil-derived pill for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is the disease where the liver becomes scarred and injured after becoming overloaded with fat.
NorthSea is in the process of developing unique and innovative strategies that will treat NASH and other metabolic, inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. NST is based in the Netherlands and has offices in the UK and Norway.
This is the second major funding for the firm. Series A financing in the amount of €25 million EUR was obtained in December 2017 from an investment group made up of Forbion, BGV and Novo Seeds.
Richard Walker of Agency Desk said “We are monitoring NorthSea Therapeutics very closely and if it isn’t in line for an IPO in 2020 or early 2021 there is a good chance NorthSea could be signalled out as a takeover candidate by one of the larger Pharma companies involved in a treatment for NASH. A successful treatment for NASH will eventually be a multi-billion dollar slice of the pharmaceutical pie, and NorthSea Therapeutics is certainly on the cutting edge of this technology.”
Whether or not this IPO happens is unsure. We will be monitoring NorthSea Therapeutics closely and will update our registered subscribers as more news comes forth.