IPO bankers brace for a blistering September
Equity capital market bankers are preparing a big push for new issues in September, with notable names and their sizeable offerings likely to overtake last year’s volume.
By IFR’s count, there are currently 10 deals capable of pricing just next month, including a handful of companies that are likely to raise over US$1bn in first-time share sales. Gemini Space Station, fintech Figure Technology and Blackstone-backed industrial equipment supplier Legence are expected to lead the charge to reopen the post-Labor Day IPO window, with Netskope, Stubhub, Klarna and others rolling out their offerings in a steady weekly cadence, without overwhelming investors or cannibalising demand.
“The top three banks will have to be air traffic control,” said an ECM banker. “The market will be busier, but still digestible.”
Already, US$21bn has been raised from 43 new issues sized over US$50m so far this year, edging close to the US$23bn garnered from the 48 deals priced at this point in 2024, according to LSEG data.
“Some companies that have plans for a 2026 IPO are bringing such plans forward, hoping to get it done before the end of the year,” said one ECM banker. “It’s a bit tight, but it can be done.”
SoftBank-backed payment systems company PayPay is one such example. The Japanese company has already filed confidentially for a US listing, having only mandated banks in early August. SoftBank, which also brought chipmaker Arm public in a nearly US$5bn deal two years ago, is aiming for a US$2bn raise for PayPay by year’s end.
With two interest rate cuts anticipated by year-end, bankers expect investors' heighted risk appetite will provide a constructive backdrop for pricing IPOs after the Labor Day holiday break. That is helped by aftermarkets, with eight of the largest IPOs this year trading up.
“We don’t want to stagger larger pricings so investors have to make final decisions within a day of each other,” another ECM banker said. “But with the profile of this batch of IPOs and the feedback we’ve gotten so far, we are excited.”