IPOs are not something that happens every day in Germany.

Although the statistics list 13 IPOs for the past year, shares were sold in just three cases.

If you then add the 9.1 billion euros that went into the Porsche IPO, the total issue volume was just 7.7 million euros.

The year before there were 28 IPOs with an issue volume of 9.5 billion euros, of which 2 billion were private placements.

Overall, Germany's share of the European market for equity issues is well under 10 percent, which is rather modest for the continent's largest economy.

Martin Hock

Editor in Business.

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But now there is the first issue of the new year, not on the German stock exchange, but on the regional stock exchange in Düsseldorf.

The scope is modest, but a start.

Frankfurt-based Neon Equity AG, formerly known as TO-Holding (Isin DE000A3DW408), intends to place around 40 million shares on the open market of the local primary market.

Trading should start next Friday, a Xetra listing will follow promptly and the share will also be traded on the open market in Frankfurt.

The public offer begins and ends on Friday - but only for up to 10,000 shares from the stock of the main shareholder TO Holding 1 GmbH, for which no purchase price has been set either.

Because the offer is made via the stock exchange and in this case the offer price corresponds to the stock exchange price, which the lead broker determines on the basis of the order book situation, it is said.

Neon Equity sees itself as a growth investor with a focus on the real estate industry, consulting and technology.

However, the latter two businesses are still in the planning stages, so Neon is essentially a real estate investor.

CEO and with a share of almost 62 percent controlling shareholder Thomas Olek is anything but unknown in this regard.

Until 2020 he was CEO of the commercial real estate investor Publity, which he founded.

To date, Neon is still Publity's largest shareholder with 48.9 percent, which according to the prospectus is also the "only significant interest of the issuer".

The direct participation in the Publity subsidiaries Preos and Gore has been separated.

However, because Publity holds 93 percent of Preos and this in turn has a 62.7 percent stake in Gore, one still has a massive, indirect stake in both companies.