European bourses battle for listings

EUROPEAN stock exchanges are scrambling for the next big initial public offering (IPO) payday, with Stockholm, Amsterdam, Zurich and London locked in a fierce battle to attract heavyweight listings. Amid a continent-wide drought in equity offerings, each bourse is working overtime to entice companies to go public on its platform.

The contest is fierce: Stockholm recently secured the listing of Verisure, the €20bil (US$22.8bil) security firm owned by Hellman & Friedman, after a tussle that saw Amsterdam, London and Zurich all pitch for the prize, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.