Some firms didn’t simply ring the bell; they set off fireworks after they went for his or her preliminary public providing (IPO).
An IPO is an occasion when a non-public firm sells its shares to the general public for the primary time. It marks the transition of a privately owned firm to public possession. However this determination isn’t made on a whim; it relies on enterprise analytics and future development plans. Mergers and acquisitions software program provides the information that drives these selections.
Whereas many firms go public yearly, few do it so properly within the IPO occasion that their opening bell echoes the world over.
On this article, we’ll talk about the most important IPOs in historical past, providing you with an entire context of not simply the numbers but additionally the impression.
14 largest IPOs in historical past: At a look
Rating IPOs primarily based on the quantity raised may not be one of the simplest ways to take a look at it, contemplating the worth distinction primarily based on a timeline. Right here’s an summary of the most important IPOs listed chronologically primarily based on the IPO’s date (yr) to supply higher historic perception:
| 12 months | Firm | Nation | Business/sector | Quantity raised (US$B) |
| 1996 | Deutsche Telekom AG | Germany | Telecommunications | 13.7 |
| 1998 | NTT DoCoMo | Japan | Telecommunications | 18 |
| 1999 | Enel SpA | Italy | Utilities | 16.4 |
| 2008 | Visa Inc. | USA | Monetary companies | 17.4 |
| 2010 | AIA Group | Hong Kong/China | Insurance coverage | 17.8 |
| 2010 | Common Motors | USA | Automotive | 15.8 |
| 2012 | Meta Platforms (Fb) | USA | Know-how | 16 |
| 2014 | Alibaba Group | China/USA | E-commerce/tech | 25 |
| 2018 | SoftBank Corp. | Japan | Telecom/tech | 21.3 |
| 2019 | Saudi Aramco | Saudi Arabia | Vitality (oil & fuel) | 29.4 |
| 2020 | Door Sprint | USA | Know-how and logistics | 3.37 |
| 2021 | Kuaishou | China/UK | Shot-video/social media | 5.4 |
| 2023 | Arm Holdings | UK/USA | Semiconductors (chip IP) | 4.87 |
| 2024 | Hyundai Motor India | India | Automotive | 3.3 |
1996: Deutsche Telekom AG raised $13.7 billion
- IPO date: Nov 18, 1996
- Trade: Frankfurt Inventory Trade (Xetra) and New York Inventory Trade
- Capital raised: $13.7 billion
- Sector: Telecommunications
- Nation: Germany
In late 1996, Deutsche Telekom (DT), the state-owned German telecommunications firm, launched its preliminary public providing, elevating roughly $13.7 billion. This IPO surpassed the earlier document of $12+ billion set by British Petroleum in 1987.
DT used the proceeds to develop internationally and to defend its market share within the trade.
1998: NTT DoCoMo raised $18 billion
- IPO date: Oct 23, 1998
- Trade: Tokyo Inventory Trade (TSE)
- Capital raised: $18.0 billion
- Sector: Telecommunications
- Nation: Japan
NTT DoCoMo’s October 1998 IPO grew to become the most important worldwide at that second, elevating roughly $18.0 billion. DoCoMo was the cellular communications arm of Nippon Telegraph and Phone (NTT).
DoCoMo’s debut at $18 billion was the largest ever in greenback phrases and created Japan’s third-largest listed firm.
1999: Enel SpA raised $16.4 billion
- IPO date: Nov 1, 1999
- Trade: Milan Inventory Trade (BIT)
- Capital raised: $16.4 billion
- Sector: Utilities (Electrical energy)
- Nation: Italy
Enel, Italy’s state-owned electrical energy utility, went public on Nov 1, 1999. Its IPO raised about $16.4 billion, making it Europe’s largest on the time.
Following the IPO, Enel assumed management of electrical energy distribution in 31 nations, serving tens of millions of consumers throughout Europe and Asia. Initially, buyers had been very excited, however their curiosity waned as the method progressed.
Nonetheless, the IPO was profitable. It reworked Enel into a non-public firm and raised funds to enhance its infrastructure.
2008: Visa Inc. raised $17.4 billion
- IPO date: Mar 18, 2008
- Trade: New York Inventory Trade (NYSE)
- Capital raised: $17.4 billion
- Sector: Monetary Providers (Funds/Tech)
- Nation: United States
Visa, the worldwide funds community, bought 406 million shares at $44 every, elevating roughly $17.3 billion. This occurred as the worldwide monetary disaster was brewing. Visa’s providing allowed shareholders to money out some fairness and strengthened the corporate’s stability sheet.
Visa’s enterprise mannequin is distinct. It doesn’t lend on to shoppers; it processes funds, making it much less weak to defaults. This stability attracts buyers throughout a unstable interval.
2010: AIA Group raised $17.8 billion
- IPO date: Oct 21, 2010
- Trade: Hong Kong Inventory Trade (HKEX)
- Capital raised: $17.8 billion
- Sector: Monetary Providers (Insurance coverage)
- Nation: Hong Kong (China)
In October 2010, AIA Group, a pan-Asian life insurer, launched an IPO in Hong Kong, elevating almost $17.8 billion. Previously the Asian arm of U.S. insurer AIG, AIA’s public debut got here after the U.S. authorities compelled AIG to promote property following the monetary disaster. The itemizing made AIA the most important impartial publicly traded life insurer in Asia.
The proceeds had been used to assist AIA’s development throughout 18 Asian markets.
2010: Common Motors raised $15.8 billion
- IPO date: Nov 17, 2010
- Trade: New York Inventory Trade (NYSE)
- Capital raised: $15.8 billion + $4.35 billion
- Sector: Automotive (Client Discretionary)
- Nation: United States
Common Motors’ return to the inventory market in November 2010 was the most important U.S. IPO of the yr. The deal raised about $15.8 billion and $4.35 billion in most popular shares. This adopted the U.S. authorities bailout of GM throughout its 2009 chapter, after which GM restructured and listed new widespread shares.
The IPO allowed the Treasury to get well a lot of its $50 billion funding. The inventory’s efficiency was combined post-IPO. Within the ensuing years, GM’s share was unstable regardless of having a powerful stability sheet. Nevertheless, it marked a symbolic comeback on the time for a Detroit icon.
2012: Fb raised $16 billion
- IPO date: Might 17, 2012
- Trade: NASDAQ
- Capital raised: $16.0 billion
- Sector: Know-how (Social Media)
- Nation: United States
On Might 17, 2012, Fb (now Meta Platforms) executed some of the well-known tech IPOs. It raised simply over $16.0 billion, valuing the corporate at $104 billion on its debut day. The corporate supplied 421,233,615 shares for $38 per share.
Fb’s IPO had a tough begin, but it surely bounced again and grew considerably over time, hitting a document all-time excessive inventory closing worth of 736.01 on February 14, 2025.
2014: Alibaba Group initially raised $21.8 billion ($25 billion together with overallotment)
- IPO date: Sept 19, 2014
- Trade: New York Inventory Trade (NYSE)
- Capital raised: $21.8 billion (preliminary); $25.0 billion with extras
- Sector: Know-how (E-commerce, Web)
- Nation: China
Alibaba’s September 2014 IPO initially raised $21.8 billion, and with the underwriters’ overallotment, the whole quantity reached roughly $25.0 billion, briefly making it the world’s largest IPO ever.
Alibaba selected the NYSE for its preliminary public providing. It instructed that the corporate’s world ambitions had been evident, regardless of being a Chinese language agency.
2018: SoftBank Corp. raised $21.3 billion
- IPO date: Dec 18, 2018
- Trade: Tokyo Inventory Trade (TSE)
- Capital raised: $21.3 billion
- Sector: Communication Providers / Know-how
- Nation: Japan
In December 2018, SoftBank Group Corp spun off its Japanese telecom unit (additionally known as SoftBank) in a large IPO. The deal raised roughly $21.3 billion. This was the most important IPO in Japan’s historical past.
The itemizing was a part of SoftBank’s technique to pay down debt and focus its dad or mum firm on world tech investments. SoftBank’s inventory fell about 14.5% on its first day, reflecting investor warning about market situations. Nonetheless, the IPO marked a landmark occasion in Japanese markets.
2019: Saudi Aramco raised $29.4 billion in its IPO in 2019
- IPO date: Dec 5, 2019
- Trade: Tadawul (Saudi Inventory Trade)
- Capital raised: $25.6 billion (preliminary); $29.4 billion with extras
- Sector: Vitality (oil and fuel)
- Nation: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest producer of oil, primarily based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. They started drilling for oil in 1938.
Throughout the IPO, the corporate bought roughly 3 billion shares to boost $25.6 billion, which represented 1.5% of the corporate’s whole worth. The corporate elevated the dimensions of its IPO to $29.4 billion by exercising a greenshoe choice. The greenshoe choice supplies stability to the inventory worth within the occasion of rising demand.
Based mostly on Aramco’s report, the corporate’s web revenue in Q1 2025 is round $26 billion, which is considerably just like the whole quantity raised again in 2019. The Q1 2025 earnings are reportedly lower than the $27.2 billion web revenue in 2024.
Earlier than going public, Saudi Aramco drew buyers’ consideration in 2016 when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud expressed his plans to checklist 5% of the corporate at a valuation of $2 trillion.
2020: DoorDash raised $3.37 billion
- IPO date: December 9, 2020
- Trade: New York Inventory Trade (NYSE)
- Capital raised: $3.37 billion
- Sector: Meals supply/expertise
- Nation: United States
Because the COVID-19 pandemic reworked every day life in 2020, meals supply emerged as a necessary service, and DoorDash rode that wave straight to Wall Avenue.
The corporate priced its IPO at $102 per share however opened at $182, giving it a totally diluted valuation of almost $71.2 billion, greater than triple what it was value only a yr earlier. It raised $3.37 billion.
DoorDash’s public debut mirrored the investor urge for food for pandemic-resilient tech companies. It had captured greater than 50% of the U.S. meals supply market and confirmed no indicators of slowing down.
2021: Kuaishou raised $5.4 billion
- IPO date: February 5, 2021
- Trade: Hong Kong Inventory Trade (HKEX)
- Capital raised: $5.4 billion
- Sector: Social Media / Brief-Video
- Nation: China
Kuaishou’s IPO represented the arrival of a brand new breed of social media empires rising from China. Typically dubbed “TikTok’s quieter cousin,” Kuaishou was a video-sharing app that had aggregated over 300 million every day lively customers, primarily from China’s smaller cities.
When it was listed on the Hong Kong Inventory Trade in early 2021, the IPO raised $5.4 billion. It was additionally the largest IPO in Hong Kong since 2019. Shares opened almost 200% above the IPO worth, valuing the corporate at over $160 billion at one level.
2023: Arm Holdings raised $4.87 billion
- IPO date: September 14, 2023
- Trade: Nasdaq
- Capital raised: $4.87 billion
- Sector: Semiconductors
- Nation: United Kingdom (Listed in USA)
Arm Holdings’ return to the general public markets in 2023 was greater than an inventory; it was a take a look at for investor confidence in chip expertise. As soon as a publicly traded UK firm, Arm had been taken non-public by SoftBank in 2016. Seven years later, its re-IPO on Nasdaq was essentially the most important U.S. tech IPO in two years.
Arm priced its shares at $51, elevating $4.87 billion and valuing the corporate at $54.5 billion. The itemizing was seen as a major win for SoftBank, which retained a 90% stake.
Arm doesn’t manufacture chips. As a substitute, it designs chip architectures utilized in 99% of smartphones globally, in addition to in knowledge facilities and IoT gadgets. Its neutrality throughout chipmakers makes it crucial infrastructure for the worldwide tech trade.
2024: Hyundai Motor India raised $3.3 billion
- IPO date: October 22, 2024
- Trade: NSE & BSE (India)
- Capital raised: $3.3 billion
- Sector: Automotive
- Nation: India
Hyundai Motor India’s IPO raised roughly ₹27870 crore (about $3.3 billion), shifting past the information set by the Life Insurance coverage Company (LIC) IPO, during which they raised near $2.7 billion.
Hyundai is in a dominant place in India’s automotive market. It ranks second in passenger car gross sales and has a powerful portfolio of each combustion and electrical automobiles. Hyundai was among the many first international automakers to wager on India within the Nineties, and by 2024, it had turn out to be a producing and export large. Its success inspired world auto giants to think about India not simply as a client base however as a manufacturing hub for the world.
Different important IPOs in historical past
Beneath are a few of the important IPOs that made it to the worldwide headlines after 2019.
| Firm | IPO date | Trade | Sector | Quantity raised |
| Airbnb | Dec 10, 2020 | Nasdaq | Journey/Tech platform | $3.5 billion |
| Snowflake (USA) | Sep 16, 2020 | NYSE | Cloud knowledge analytics | $3.36 billion |
| Unity Software program (USA) | Sep 18, 2020 | NYSE | Recreation growth software program | $1.3 billion |
| XPeng (China/USA) | Aug 27, 2020 | NYSE | Electrical automobiles | $1.5 billion |
| Li Auto (China/USA) | Jul 30, 2020 | Nasdaq | Electrical automobiles | $1.1 billion |
| Coupang (South Korea/USA) | Mar 11, 2021 | NYSE | E-commerce | $4.6 billion |
| Affirm (USA) | Jan 13, 2021 | Nasdaq | Fintech (BNPL) | $1.2 billion |
| Oatly (USA) | Might 19, 2021 | Nasdaq | Plant-based meals | $1.4 billion |
| Zomato (India) | Jul 23, 2021 | BSE/NSE (India) | Meals supply | $1.3 billion |
| Paytm (India) | Nov 8, 2021 | NSE/BSE (India) | Fintech (funds) | $2.5 billion |
| Nubank (Brazil) | Dec 9, 2021 | NYSE | Fintech (digital financial institution) | $2.6 billion |
| LIC (India) | Might 4, 2022 | NSE/BSE (India) | Insurance coverage/Finance | $2.7 billion |
| Birkenstock (Germany/USA) | Oct 10, 2023 | NYSE | Client footwear | $1.48 billion |
| Reddit (USA) | Mar 20, 2024 | Nasdaq | Social media | $0.75 billion |
| Hyundai Motor India (India) | Oct 15, 2024 | NSE/BSE (India) | Automotive | $3.3 billion |
Supply: Reuters
Upcoming IPOs in 2025
A number of firms seem like on monitor for an IPO within the foreseeable future, with 2025 being a probable goal. Right here’s an summary:
| Firm | Estimated valuation | Business | Description |
| Stripe | $91.5 billion | Fintech | Main funds agency dealing with $1 trillion+ annual quantity. |
| Databricks | $62 billion | Know-how | AI-focused knowledge analytics agency with sturdy development. |
| Chime | $11.37 billion | Fintech | Payment-free neo-bank serving 38M prospects within the U.S. |
| Klarna | $15 billion | Fintech | High buy-now-pay-later agency aiming for U.S. itemizing. |
| Discord | $15 billion | Know-how | Fashionable communication app, 200M lively world customers. |
Disclaimer: These are predictions primarily based on data from numerous sources. This doesn’t represent G2’s prediction or forecast on upcoming IPOs.
Towards the subsequent part of development
Regardless of their dimension, these IPOs share widespread themes, i.e., elevating funds for growth and development. After 2019, there hasn’t been an IPO that has raised funds as a lot as Aramco. Nevertheless, a number of firms have raised first rate capital between 2020 and 2025.
For those who’re on the same pathway that’s guiding you towards an IPO occasion, this text offers you a ballpark when it comes to the capital to boost. Nevertheless, it’s not one thing that relies upon rather a lot on exterior alerts. Your organization’s present monetary and development methods assist resolve on how a lot capital you must increase to gas development.
M&A software program supplies a complete overview, making the decision-making course of simpler for you.
Study extra about how companies are utilizing AI in M&A for effectivity.
