Cboe is preparing to take the listings on the European stock exchange

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Cboe Global Markets is planning to start trying to attract companies to list in its markets in Europe, with the aim of reversing a trend that has seen many companies abandon the continent for the United States.

The group, which operates the largest pan-European stock exchange, is preparing to take on companies such as the London Stock Exchange, Euronext, Nasdaq and Deutsche Börse, which dominate the prime listing market. Cboe aims to launch quotations in the coming weeks, from a base in Amsterdam.

His move comes as Europe suffers from a drought of new public offerings and while companies like Flutter, CRH and Ferguson are giving up their European listings for New York’s deep capital pools. British chip designer ARM will also be listed in the US instead of returning to the London market.

Officials in the UK and the EU are trying to do this revision their capital markets and listing rules in an effort to make the continent more competitive and attractive to investors and new companies. European companies have raised just $2.9 billion from IPOs so far this year, compared with $3.8 billion in the same period last year, according to data from Refinitiv.

“We’ve come to the conclusion that from a capital formation perspective, there are gaps where a new innovative quote exchange, thinking and operating differently, could really add value,” Jos Schmitt, head of global quotes for Cboe Global Markets, he told the Financial Times. “Europe is one of the areas we want to focus on.”

The company has an exchange based in the UK and the Netherlands, but is currently hiring for an Amsterdam-based director of business directory sales, according to a job posting on its website.

The goal of the role will be to “attract new public company listings for Cboe’s global markets in the European Union,” he says. “We’re looking at both the UK and the EU,” Schmitt said.

Ian White, an analyst at Autonomous Research, said the Cboe faced “a real uphill struggle” to capture market share from Euronext. “I fail to understand why, as a potential new issuer, a brand new exchange would be a good place to get exposure and interest in your stock, compared to the largest capital-raising in Europe,” he added.

Cboe has built its name in US trading options such as the Vix volatility index and operates major European markets for secondary trading in stocks, but has little experience in initial public offerings.

One exception is al Neo, a Canadian location purchased by CBOE last year, which has about 60 prime listings. Schmitt said he hoped to replicate that success in Europe.

“Our focus will be on early-stage growth companies, where there is investor interest around the world and where incumbent exchanges aren’t providing what it takes to make them successful,” Schmitt said.

The company aims to build a global network of listing venues and provide liquidity to companies around the world, regardless of the country in which they choose to list.

White added that Cboe was “becoming a real nuisance for continental European stock exchanges,” having eaten up their market share in stock trading. It holds a 25% share of the European stock market, up from Euronext’s 24% share since early May. European national stock exchanges used to have a near monopoly on trading until regulation allowed for competition.

White added that while Cboe would be hard-pressed to make a dent in Euronext’s share of European listings, its move to tender offers could make listing prices more competitive and give “Euronext customers a stick to beat”. [it with] if they are increasing fees by double digits.”