European IPOs: When it’s time to leave home

Family businesses often fight shy of the exposure required by a stock exchange listing. Yet if family firms need fresh capital for growth or to meet the competition, a public offering needn't spell the end of family control. James Featherstone looks at the state of European private-company flotation and the investment strategies of 13 family-controlled businesses.

Only a tiny proportion of the hundreds of thousands of family-owned companies in Europe are listed on exchanges. But increasingly, second- and third-generation family members are seeking to raise capital and realize some of their assets. An initial public offering (IPO) is not a straightforward decision for management. A wider choice of exchanges, a greater emphasis on equity investment in continental Europe and generally buoyant capital markets have increased the profile of flotations as a way of raising capital.

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