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Zurich and Frankfurt expected to lead upturn in IPO

activity

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SMG is well-suited to testing market mood, sources say

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IPO proceeds will go to selling stakeholders

By John Revill and Emma-Victoria Farr

ZURICH, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Online classifieds business

Swiss Marketplace Group intends to float in the coming weeks on

the Zurich SIX stock exchange, it said on Tuesday, marking the

start of an expected wave of European initial public offerings.

SMG, which operates online platforms for classified ads and

auctions, is backed by Swiss media business TX Group, which owns

a 30.7% stake, as well as private equity firm General Atlantic

that holds an undisclosed minority stake.

The IPO could raise about 1 billion Swiss francs for

existing stakeholders, valuing the company around 4.5 billion

Swiss francs ($5.6 billion), with at least 20% of the company

being sold to outside investors, three sources familiar with the

matter said.

Swiss Marketplace Group declined to comment on any financial

terms or the exact timing of the potential IPO.

Equity capital markets advisers have predicted Zurich and also

Frankfurt will lead an upturn in IPO activity following a

slowdown linked to the uncertainty surrounding U.S. President

Donald Trump's tariffs.

SMG is well-suited to testing the stock market's appetite

for new listings, as the company focuses on the Swiss domestic

market, which is sheltered from the tariff upheaval, the same

sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they

were not authorised to speak publicly.

The Swiss Marketplace Group IPO will comprise a secondary

offering with all proceeds going to the sellers.

They will be the company's controlling shareholders Swiss

insurer Mobiliar, media company Ringier, and General Atlantic,

all selling an undisclosed amount of shares, according to deal

term sheets seen by Reuters. Shareholder TX Group will not sell

shares, it said in a statement.

After such an announcement, it takes on average around four

weeks before a company's shares can be traded publicly.

The company, which was created in 2021 and is the largest

operator of real estate and car sales websites in Switzerland,

generated sales of 291 million Swiss francs, with an adjusted

operating profit margin of 48% in 2024.

For 2025, SMG expects sales growth of 13 to 15%, and a

operating profit margin in the mid-50% range.

J.P.Morgan, Goldman Sachs and UBS are coordinating the IPO,

alongside Barclays, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, Zuercher

Kantonalbank and Evercore.

In Switzerland, the company operates property websites

including homegate.ch and Immoscout24, as well as Autoscout24

for car buyers.

Foreign companies with a comparable business model include

Germany's Scout 24, Britain's Rightmove ( RTMVF ),

Sweden's Hemnet and the Baltic Classifieds Group

.

The listing could indicate a revival in the European IPO market,

which has been subdued with only $7.2 billion raised since the

start of the year, down from $63 billion in 2021.

High-profile IPO candidates in Germany include prosthetics

manufacturer Ottobock, as well as the research and technology

unit of Deutsche Börse, ISS Stoxx, as previously

reported by Reuters.

($1 = 0.8019 Swiss francs)