2021 looks set to be the biggest year for IPOs in the US since the internet bubble of 2000, reports CNBC’s Rob Pisani. Drawing on a report from Renaissance Capital, he writes that around 100 public offerings are expected in the closing months of the year, which could see 2021 ending with a bumper crop of 375 deals, raising US$125bn.
US-based household names expected to list on the public markets include the prescription eyewear retailer Warby Parker, sustainable footwear manufacturer Allbirds and the plant-based meat start-up Impossible Foods. Technology is also well represented in the line-up, with digital payment processor Toast, alternative energy crypto miner Stronghold Digital Mining, and electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive anticipated to go public.
CNBC article
Unicorns in India
India nearly doubled the number of its unicorns to a total of 51 in August, according to an article in The Economic Times, drawing on research from Hurun India. This is despite “cumbersome regulations” that have been forcing start-ups to relocate to other countries. It says that India is “third in the list of countries having the most unicorns”, trailing the US (396) and China, but ahead of UK and Germany”.
The article cites Hurun figures of possible future unicorns, including 32 gazelles (valued at over US$500m) and 54 cheetahs (US$200m), with a total value of US$36bn. “The leap to being a unicorn can also happen swiftly,” it says, “as seen in five 'cheetahs' which directly jumped into the unicorn club during the last eight months.”
Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher at Hurun India, is quoted, saying that the list was compiled with input from venture capital funds. He hints that the number of unicorns could have been higher if some start-ups hadn’t “left the country after achieving a certain scale for better regulations and capital availability”.
The Economic Times article
American IPO dream
Chinese companies are pushing ahead “with close to US$1bn-worth of IPOs in New York, shrugging off hurdles put in place by regulators in Beijing and Washington”, reports Zach Coleman for Nikkei Asia.
Coleman refers to a YouTube video posted by chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, on 17 August, in which he states that he had “put a pause, for now” on listings by companies seeking to get around China’s foreign ownership restrictions. However, Nikkei’s research identifies 11 public registrations filed with the SEC since Gensler’s announcement that use the corporate structure to which he alluded. They would also appear to be flying in the face of “Beijing’s new restrictions on offshore IPOs by companies involved in private education and those holding data on more than 1 million Chinese users”, writes Coleman.
Coleman quotes Stephanie Tang of US law firm Hogan Lovells in Hong Kong, who believes that companies that can go offshore are likely to keep overseas listing as an option, attracted by the possibility of higher valuations and liquidity in US share markets.
Nikkei Asia article