The company that owns the WeTransfer file service is cancelling its initial public offering (IPO), Europe’s first prominent tech offering of the year, it said on Thursday, citing volatile market conditions.
WeRock had planned a Jan. 28 flotation on Amsterdam’s Euronext that would have valued the company at between 629 million and 716 million euros ($714 million-813 million).
The company said in a statement it had made the decision to cancel the listing “despite substantial investor interest”. It will continue “pursuing our strategy and continuing our growth trajectory”, Chief Executive Gordon Willoughby added.
Global stock markets have had a bumpy start to the year, with the EuroStoxx 600 technology index down 6% since the company announced its intention to float on Jan. 12.
Following a bumper first half of listings in 2021, deal cancellations and postponements began to be seen towards year-end, with France’s Icade Sante and Switzerland’s Chronext pulling deals in October.
The IPO market closely reflects investors’ appetite for risk and they tend to become more reluctant to commit large chunks of cash to a single company if the broader economic environment is showing signs of strain.
2021 was “an extraordinary year for equity formation globally – dare I say one that is unlikely to be repeated any time soon,” said James Fleming, global co-head of equity capital markets at Citigroup.
– Reuters