CEE Equity

The government of Slovenia has relaunched the reprivatisation of Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), the biggest bank in the country, after an attempt to float it in 2017 failed.

The outlook for Turkish IPOs is bleak after the country’s president, Recep Erdoğan, appointed a new cabinet which included his son-in-law as new finance minister.

The resounding victory of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in this weekend’s presidential election has driven Turkish equities even lower, as concerns rise over the overheating economy. But the president could turn bears into bulls if he stabilises the economy, and some investors will jump at the chance to buy cheap Turkish equities.

Despite worries that Russian investors are pulling away from London as the UK looks to pressure allies of the country's president Vladimir Putin, Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, this week told GlobalCapital that preserving the rule of law in the UK and making sure markets are “clean and honest” is more important than attracting Russian capital to London.

Increased hostility towards Russia from the UK political establishment is severing the financial links between the two countries. The arguments between Russia and the West are freezing the former’s equity capital markets, which depend on UK and US investors, and is, according to some sources, driving Russians to repatriate capital. In the long-run, it could even be detrimental to the UK’s capital markets industry, write Sam Kerr and Francesca Young.

The global pressure on emerging markets, triggered by a multitude of factors but most obviously a rapidly strengthening dollar, has been felt across the asset class. The most notable casualty in equities has been Turkey, which at the beginning of 2018 was expected to produce a bumper crop of IPOs this year.

Avast, the Czech cybersecurity firm, closed a well-covered book for its IPO on Wednesday at what bookrunners said was an attractive price, but the stock traded down on its first day.

The IPOs of two Turkish retailers, Beymen and DeFacto, were cancelled at the end of last week, after failing to attract enough demand to cover the shares on offer. A third IPO, Şok Marketler, was extended to Wednesday May 9. All three were seeking to list in Istanbul.

Shares in Vivo Energy, the African fuel distributor, rose more than 3% on its first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, after its £558m IPO attracted substantial demand.

Avast, the Czech cyber security company, has set the terms of its London IPO, valuing it at £3.2bn at the top of the range.

Cherkizovo, the Russian meat and sausage producer seeking to list on the Moscow Exchange, has failed to get its re-IPO away, citing market volatility for postponing the deal.

Sok Marketler, the Turkish discount grocer, has set the range on its Istanbul IPO, valuing it at Tl6.9bn (1.7bn) to Tl8.3bn ($2.05bn).