The IPO market is booming

The global initial public offering (IPO) market is booming with record-setting deal activity this year, according to new data from Refinitiv.

The firm reported that there have been 670 IPOs so far this year, which is the largest number of deals to start the year in more than 20 years, and more than double the number compared with the same period last year.

In terms of deal value, a total of US$140.3 billion has been raised this year, blowing away the previous record of US$91.8 billion set back in 2007. Year-to-date deal value is quadruple the amount raised in the same period last year.

The U.S. Nasdaq market has led the way in global IPOs, hosting 105 deals so far this year — up by about 300% year over year — and raising US$33.9 billion. Refinitiv said the last time Nasdaq was this busy for IPOs was in the dot-com boom.

The NYSE ranked second with $21.5 billion in IPO proceeds raised from 32 new listings. Hong Kong was third, with 29 IPOs that raised US$11.3 billion.

In the U.K., the LSE’s main market has seen 13 deals, which raised US$9 billion, surpassing the total proceeds for all of 2020 by 59%. The U.K.’s venture market, the AIM, raised US$763 million for nine companies, “more than three-times the value recorded at this time last year,” Refinitiv said.

Technology has been the leading sector, accounting for 27% of deal value and almost 20% of deal volume.

The boom in IPOs is happening alongside a flurry of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listings. These issues have raised an additional US$97.6 billion so far this year, Refinitiv noted.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.