At least €55bn ($73bn) worth of business is already lined up to hit the European equity capital markets this year, according to SG Corporate and Investment Banking.

This is 40% of the €134bn raised in Europe through share sales last year, according to Dealogic, the research provider. The pipeline does not take into account all the possible accelerated deals and block trades that are launched overnight. These accounted for 47% of total European issuance in 2004, according to SG's ECM review of the year.