The announced IPOs of Pfisterer and Innoscripta are being taken as a sign that some “Mittelstand” founders are warming to equity, and ECM, as a growth lever.

So far in 2025, no other German mid-cap companies have listed, with elections and global trade tensions weighing on activity.

Source: Dealogic, German IPOs with market cap of under USD 5bn

That follows a moderate 2024, when USD 2.21bn was raised from mid-cap issuers, up slightly from USD 2.08bn in 2023. These listings included Schott Pharma, Springer Nature and Renk.

Still, recent momentum doesn’t yet signal a broader market shift, and the two German mid-cap IPOs announced so far, don’t necessarily mean the flood gates are open.

“Pfisterer, for example, leans into the theme of infrastructure which is major theme in Germany after the government announcement earlier this year,” according to a DACH ECM banker.

In March 2025, the German Bundestag approved a EUR 500bn infrastructure fund aimed at overhauling the nation’s aging infrastructure and supporting climate and energy transition goals.

Meanwhile, Innoscripta came back as an IPO after management, and investors, saw how well the company grew in 2024 and how its 2025 growth was going to continue that trend, a global ECM banker added.

“Pfisterer, and now Innoscripta, will be a litmus test to see if there is appetite for quality founder-led businesses in the mid cap space that offer strong fundamentals and a compelling story,” a DACH ECM banker said.

Car parts e-retailer Autodoc and medical solutions business BrainLAB are expected to follow, potentially before the summer break, further fuelling hopes of a mid-cap revival.

Still, liquidity remains a concern, with investors wary of the thin aftermarket trading typical in German mid-caps, a DACH banker noted.

Mid-cap follow-ons stand at USD 529m in 2025 YTD, with the USD 322m block in IONOS Group SE leading the pack. The figure last year was USD 2.08bn over the full year, down from USD 3.7bn the year before.