EMEA follow-ons reached their highest level since 2021, but market volatility triggered by renewed US-China trade tensions and the reintroduction of Trump-era tariffs has slowed down issuance somewhat.

Excluding rights issues and PIPE deals, EMEA follow-on volumes reached USD 45.5bn YTD in 2025, a slight increase from USD 44.4bn over the same period last year.

However, momentum slowed in April after the ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcement, with almost USD 35bn being issued in the first quarter before the announcement.

In the first quarter, large sell-downs in Ferrari NV (USD 3.1bn) and Haleon plc’s two trades (USD 3.1bn and USD 3.06bn) drove issuance before the market essentially shut down because of the tariff-related volatility.

Nevertheless, the early part of the year was defined by jumbo blocks (EUR 1bn+), making it the strongest showing since 2021, when volumes hit USD 69.6bn.

Much of this year’s activity has been front-run at the beginning of the year, and deal flow dropped significantly in April and only began to recover at the end of May.

Although there was a slowdown in April, a USD 2.2bn placement in Galderma at the end of May reopened the market, and a steady flow of deals has followed since.

“The current market favours short-window products, with strong investor appetite leaning toward liquid, flexible options like follow-ons and derisked assets such as known names with clean stories, giving non-IPO deals a better shot at execution,” an ECM banker said.

The UK remained the most active exchange, with USD 8.6bn in deal volume, led by trades by Haleon plc and British American Tobacco plc (USD 1.5bn). However, this was down from USD 11.9bn over the same period last year.

Switzerland has followed with USD 8.15bn of deals, a significant jump from USD 266m in 2024, buoyed by deals in Novartis AG (USD 2.9bn) and Galderma Group AG (USD 2.2bn and USD 1.5bn).

Italy saw USD 3.7bn in volumes, slightly below last year’s USD 5bn, driven by the Ferrari NV block.

The United Arab Emirates posted USD 3.3bn, up from USD 1.06bn, while Germany ranked fifth at USD 3.2bn, down from USD 6bn in 2024.

Other notable markets included: Netherlands (USD 2.1bn, up from USD 458m), Belgium (USD 2.1bn, up from USD 1.7bn), United States (USD 1.9bn, down from USD 2.7bn), Poland (USD 1.7bn, up from USD 811m) and Russian Federation (USD 1.4bn, up from USD 124m).

Should volatility remain low, momentum from the 1Q could pick up again, but a more uncertain outlook remains over the rest of the year.