Overview
There were 79 initial public offerings in U.S. markets between April 1, 2019, and June 30, 2019. These IPOs raised over $32.7 billion for the quarter, an increase of roughly $25 billion from last quarter and an increase of $7.7 billion from the same period last year. This was not surprising, as some large players were expected to file.
The amount raised by IPOs in Q2 2019 was the highest among all second quarters over the last five years. This quarter was also the highest in terms of IPO count. Worth noting, the $32.7 billion these 79 IPOs brought in is the highest amount of all second quarters since 2000.
Industry Analysis
There were six unicorns this quarter: Uber Technologies, Inc [UBER], Slack Technologies, Inc. [WORK], Avantor, Inc. [AVTR], Pinterest, Inc. [PINS], Tradeweb Markets Inc. [TW] and Chewy, Inc. [CHWY]. All six unicorns were American companies.
The long-awaited IPO of Uber, a transportation networking company, raised $8.1 billion – topping the charts in terms of proceeds this quarter and ranking as the sixth highest IPO since 2000. Slack Technologies, the second highest IPO this quarter in terms of proceeds, raised $4.5 billion and ranks as the tenth highest IPO since 2000.
Looking at the industry breakdown, Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing had the most transactions this quarter, with 13 IPOs totaling over $1.0 billion in aggregate proceeds.
Software Publishers raised the most money this quarter, bringing in a total of $16.8 billion from nine IPOs including Uber Technologies, Slack Technologies, and Pinterest. Uber’s S-1 identified 7372 Prepackaged Software as its primary standard industrial classification (SIC) code number, contributing its $8.1 billion proceeds – almost 50% – to the total amount raised for the industry.
Accounting and Legal Representation
The top IPO this quarter, Uber Technologies, Inc, was audited by PwC and represented by Cooley, Covington & Burling, and Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Auditor Market Share
In Q2 2019, the Big Four audited 67.1% of the IPO market.
#Auditor Market Share for 79 #IPO companies in Q2 2019:
— Audit Analytics (@AuditAnalytics) July 17, 2019
Deloitte [21.5%];
EY [20.3%],
PwC [13.9%];
KPMG [11.4%]
All Other Firms: [32.9%]
Deloitte led with 17 IPO audit clients, the most among all firms in Q2 2019. PwC raised the highest amount at a combined total of $10.0 billion from 11 IPO audit clients.
Among non-Big Four firms, Marcum had eight IPO audit clients that raised an aggregate of $2.1 billion, the highest in terms of both IPO count and gross proceeds. Withum and Friedman followed Marcum (in terms of count) with three IPO audit clients each, raising $700 million and $34.7 million, respectively.
Emerging Growth Companies
73 of the 79 IPOs this quarter, or 92.4%, elected to register as emerging growth companies (“EGCs”).
Conclusion
As discussed in our previous post, the Q1 2019 IPO market was slower than usual due, in part, to the government shutdown. That said, Q2’s IPO activity did not come as a surprise. It was a great quarter for IPOs and we’re looking forward to the Q3 analysis.
For more information on IPOs, e-mail info@auditanalytics.com or call 508-476-7007.