We have seen many large corporate-backed rounds ($100m and above) in recent years driven by high valuations but what proportion of the businesses go public? IPOs can provide a lucrative exit for backers despite the extended lead times.
In 2019, we tracked 65 IPOs of corporate-backed businesses, where a total of $23.1bn in capital was raised. These figures were down compared with 2018, with 77 offerings with an estimated $25bn of capital.
Public markets appear to be a source of liquidity for earlier investors in companies that do not yet have positive cashflows from operations.
According to Zacks Investment Management, nearly 40% of US-listed companies reported losses over the past year – the highest level since the late 1990s, excluding recessions. That has not stopped investors from bidding up the prices of their stocks – for example Tesla, which was trading at just above $200 in October and traded for nearly $1,600 before the recent stock split. It does appear venture capital-style valuations have migrated to public markets, despite the covid-19 shock.
