Noba shares opened 21% above offer price in its Stockholm debut

Shares of Noba Bank Group AB exploded out of the gate on Nasdaq Stockholm on Friday, jumping 21% above offer price and throwing Sweden straight to the center of Europe’s IPO map.

The stock opened at 84.90 kronor, beating its set price of 70 kronor, and brought in 7.6 billion kronor (around $804 million) for sellers like Nordic Capital and Sampo Oyj. The company is now valued at 35 billion kronor, and its debut just became the measuring stick for what’s coming next in Europe’s deal pipeline.

Noba waited earlier this year, choosing to sit out the market’s swings. But now, with investors starting to lean back into risk, the IPO landed during a stretch of rising confidence.

That mood is being tested with a massive €3.1 billion ($3.6 billion) listing from Verisure Plc just around the corner. Noba’s showing is already being treated as the trial balloon ahead of that deal.

The group runs three main businesses: Nordax Bank, Bank Norwegian, and Svensk Hypotekspension, all bundled under the Noba name. The stock is listed under the ticker NOBA.

Big players show up as IPO demand goes beyond expectations

Noba’s IPO was oversubscribed “several” times, the company said. Buyers like OP Financial Group, DNB Asset Management, and Handelsbanken Fonder bought 3.2 billion kronor worth of shares. The deal was arranged by DNB Carnegie Investment Bank, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase.

The company’s push into the public markets lands during one of the busiest stretches for IPOs in Europe in over a year.

“Noba has likely received a boost from the fact that niche banks have performed quite strongly on the stock market this year,” said Robert Oldstrand, equity strategist at Swedbank AB. “With a relatively good risk mood in the market and a fairly optimistic outlook for the coming year, the window has undeniably opened for IPOs.”

Noba’s debut wasn’t just a one-off event. Stockholm’s exchange has been the busiest IPO venue in the region so far in 2025. And that’s no coincidence. Even with private capital still available for companies that want to avoid the public eye, more firms are now picking public listings again.

More companies push ahead with IPOs as Noba sets early tone

Across Europe, firms from car parts to software are going public again. Just last week, Aumovio, the auto-parts company spun out of Continental, started trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at €35 ($41.11) per share. It closed the week above €39, putting its market cap over $4.14 billion.

On the same timeline, Swiss Marketplace Group went public on the Swiss Stock Exchange, pricing shares at 46 francs ($57.84) each and ending Friday at 49 francs. That gave the online ad firm a market value of about $5.7 billion.

CEO Christoph Tonini said in an interview that staying public was the plan for all four existing shareholders: “The best way to make exit or participate in growth is to be in a listed company.” He added, “We have now new investors coming in, and we’re going to deliver, also for them, value creation.”

Bankers are finally getting busy again. Phil Drake, head of UK equity capital markets at Bank of America, told CNBC that “The September IPO activity is the quarter’s standout story, with issuers and private equity viewing the product as a viable exit route again in Europe.”

In the same email interview, he said, “We’re as busy as we’ve been in the past 18 months. The IPO dialogue is ramping and secondary selldown activity will continue to be strong.”

This isn’t just a German or Swiss moment. Sweden is stacking up listings too. After Noba, the next big one is Verisure. The Swiss home-security firm, backed by private equity, plans to raise €3.1 billion through a listing on Nasdaq Stockholm.

CEO Austin Lally said that the company wants the funds to expand internationally. But that’s not all. Lally said, “And also to pay down debt, to get the leverage levels and the balance sheet to a position where we think public investors will be comfortable, long term, supporting the company.”

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