IPOs continue to increase despite weak pricing, continued uncertainty
US IPO market shoes; SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic are important experiments
Asia and Europe are seeing a rise in IPO values
Some deals have been delayed due to regulatory review and flexibility
LONDON/SINGAPORE/NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) – Companies have raised the most share sales in the first quarter since 2021, and mega-IPOs from Space X and OpenAI could raise tens of billions more in the coming months despite uncertainty during the Iran war and software stock selloff, according to new data and brokers.
Capital markets issuance rose 40% year-on-year to $211 billion in the three months to March 31, according to LSEG data. Of that, IPO profits made $44 billion, up 47% year-over-year, although the number of listings fell 4% to 297.
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Sales were boosted by large transactions in sectors protected from many global crises, including the $4.5 billion IPO of Czech security group CSG, the largest of the quarter.
The numbers point to investors’ tenacity and desire to seek greater security and inventory for AI infrastructure, which has proven stronger than software amid political tensions. Attention will now be paid in the coming months to the United States, where several high-profile IPOs are expected.
Red chart showing how 2026 Q1 had the highest share sales since 2021
TOLERANCE IN AN IMPERFECT WORLD
SpaceX is expected to raise more than $75 billion at a price as high as $1.75 trillion, which would be one of the largest IPOs in history. AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic are also considering listings later this year, which could add tens of billions.
Earlier this month, Japanese payments firm PayPay went ahead with its IPO after a one-day delay related to tensions in the Middle East.
“The resilience we’ve seen in this market, given all the turmoil out there, is remarkable,” said John Kolz, global head of equity markets at Barclays.
He added: “We cannot bury our heads in its sand.” There are many reasons why investors would say, ‘don’t call me for a while, we need to let things settle.’ But they haven’t.
The IPO pipeline has also been strengthened by private companies seeking to list their major assets.
WE ARE BASED ON MARKETS THAT ARE POTENTIALLY OVERLOOKED
US companies have raised more than $23 billion in IPOs so far this year, up 91% year-over-year, LSEG data shows, as strong institutional demand and the depth of US capital markets take large deals despite political uncertainty.
Across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, nearly $7 billion has been raised through IPOs so far this year, up from $5.8 billion last year, while sales volumes across Asian markets rose 15% to $13.6 billion, reports show.
“Despite the recent uncertainty, the market can still take on significant size, including very large deals,” said Phyllis Wang, head of the APAC capital markets group at Goldman Sachs.
The technology sector continues to drive delivery, especially for AI infrastructure, Wang said, as the process expands to industries, natural resources and finance.
EUROPEAN IPOs FOCUS ON SECURITY
In Europe, the IPO pipeline is leaning towards security, although companies across sectors are preparing for listings later this year, Antoine Noblot, head of northern European capital markets at BNP Paribas, told Reuters.
However, several major deals were postponed globally, including Visma’s nearly 20 billion IPO in London and the 1 billion euro ($1.19 billion) float of Dutch telecommunications firm Odido, Reuters reported earlier.
Many investors “expect the IPOs planned for Q2 to be a success,” said Saadi Soudavaar, head of EMEA capital markets at Deutsche Bank. “But obviously it depends on the market downturn and how things change in terms of the economy and the economy.”
Reporting by Charlie Conchie in London, Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore and Echo Wang in New York; Edited by Anousha Sakoui and Bernadette Baum
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Yantoultra Ngui is Reuters’ Southeast Asia Correspondent in Singapore, covering M&A and capital markets activities in the region that is fast growing to become one of the world’s largest economies. He was previously a reporter at Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Notably, he was part of the WSJ team that covered the financial scandal of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, and won the SOPA Excellence in Breaking News award for reporting on the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in Malaysia in 2018. Yantoultra graduated from UP in 2010.
Echo Wang is a reporter at Reuters who talks about US financial markets, and the intersection of Chinese business in the United States, news from the US attack on TikTok and Grindr, to prevent the restrictions that Chinese companies face in the New York listing. He was the Reuters Reporter of the Year in 2020.
