Europe raised more in the way of IPO funds than the US and Asia combined during the first quarter of this year, according to data crunched by Bloomberg.

European IPO volume hit almost $20bn (£13.5bn, €18.4bn), driven by big ticket listings such as UK's Auto Trader and the state sell down of Spanish airport operator Aena.

The US, by contrast, had its slowest IPO quarter since 2009, despite web domain name specialist GoDaddy expected to raise $400m on the last day of the quarter in New York, said Bloomberg.

The European Central Bank's quantitative-easing program, lower oil prices and a weaker euro compared with the dollar are a "big stimulus" for many companies that are reporting stronger earnings as a result, analysts said.

Five companies in Europe raised more than $1bn in IPOs this quarter, compared with one in the US.

Spanish airport operator Aena raised €4.3bn ($4.7bn) last month, which was Europe's biggest IPO in almost four years. UK car market Auto Trader raised $2.4bn in March. This was UK's largest listing since the Royal Mail's $3bn offering in 2013.

The US awaits the $1.2bn IPO of Columbia Pipeline Partners, a natural gas pipeline unit spun off by NiSource.

Bloomberg noted that takeovers were down in Europe by some 20%.