Bitpanda's IPO on hold, and why acquihires leave investors empty-handed

In episode 4 of Founders Dispatch, Stefan Köppl and Jakob Steinschaden discuss why exits are stuck: IPOs keep being postponed, private equity can't sell, and buyers now take only the people they want.

In one minute

• Bitpanda's reported Frankfurt IPO is off the table for now, after a change at the top and with Bitcoin well below its high.
• The IPO window is crowded: very large US listings could absorb the capital that smaller IPOs need.
• Private equity funds struggle to sell their companies, and Europe lacks a market for mid-sized IPOs.
• In today's acquihires, buyers take two or three key people; debts stay behind and investors often get nothing.

Bitpanda without an IPO

CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad has moved to Erste Group and co-founder Christian Trummer is back in charge. Most of the C-level has changed, and B2B business, including with RBI, is meant to bring stability. Crypto remains a margin driver for neobrokers like Revolut and Robinhood.

Europe's exchanges and the exit backlog

Wiener Börse CEO Christoph Boschan argues that market depth, not technology, is what Europe's exchanges lack. Meanwhile neobrokers are starting to offer private equity savings plans to retail investors.

Acquihires reconsidered

The case of Character.AI shows the new pattern: Google hired the founders first, and Disney is now buying what is left from the insolvency estate.

This conversation first appeared on Founders Dispatch, the podcast of Trending Topics. Listen to the full episode (opens in a new tab)