Turkey is contemplating a slowdown in the frequency of initial public offerings (IP
- IPO applicants seek delays in final approvals for new deals
- Local market has seen ten listing debuts so far this year
Os) on Istanbul’s primary stock exchange, as indicated by a source familiar with the discussions, due to mixed investor interest in recent transactions. The Capital Markets Board is reviewing requests from several IPO candidates to postpone the final approvals for their offerings.
This source, who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the discussions, noted that these companies are seeking the regulator's evaluation of market conditions before proceeding with the next set of deals.
The regulator has opted not to provide any comments on the matter. The push to reduce the pace of new listings could jeopardize a resurgence in Turkish IPO activity after a decline in 2024. So far this year, the local market has witnessed ten new listings, one additional completed IPO, and two deal approvals, based on data from the regulator and stock exchange. In contrast, there was only one trading debut and two approvals during the same timeframe last year. At present, the regulator has over 90 companies in its pipeline that have received initial clearance for a listing.
Once a company obtains final approval, it typically has 15 days to release its IPO prospectus. Several deals this year have encountered challenges. Dunya Varlik Yonetim, a buyer of non-performing loans, delayed its IPO in January due to unfavorable market conditions. Akfen Insaat Turizm ve Ticaret has seen its stock price drop since its debut, while companies such as Seranit Granit Seramik Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS and Enda Enerji Holding LLC sold fewer shares than they had intended. The flow of IPOs in Turkey slowed last year as tighter monetary policies made new share sales less attractive. Previously, Turkey was among the largest listing venues in the region, with 56 companies raising nearly 80 billion liras (approximately $2.2 billion) in 2023, according to regulatory data.
This contrasts with about 57 billion liras raised from 33 IPOs in the previous year. Borsa Istanbul’s main index reached a five-month peak in early December amid expectations that the central bank would begin significantly lowering interest rates. Although the benchmark rate has since decreased from 50% to 45%, indications that policy easing may take longer than initially anticipated are making riskier assets less appealing once more.