2022 IPOs: auditor market share analysis
Sarah Keohane 
Date published: Jan 30, 23
Last updated: Mar 07, 24
The Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) exchanges saw only 191 initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2022. Together, these companies raised just over $21.5 billion, an average of $112.9 million per offering.
Total IPOs reached a five-year low in 2022, dropping 81.9% from the previous year. Gross proceeds also dropped by 93.6% from 2021, the lowest seen over the five-year period.
Unlike in 2021, traditional IPOs outnumbered special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in 2022. Traditional listings raised an average of $91.9 million per IPO while SPACs averaged $138 million per listing.
The number of SPAC IPOs has spiked significantly over the past two years. The fiscal year (FY) 2020 saw a 320% increase in SPAC IPOs, followed by another 147% increase in FY 2021. However, in 2022 SPAC IPOs decreased for the first time over the five-year period, dropping 85.8% from FY 2021.
Largest IPOs
Corebridge Financial, Inc. was the largest IPO in 2022 in terms of gross proceeds, raising $1.68 billion from its September 2022 listing. Only two other IPOs broke the billion-dollar barrier in 2022. Although SPACs had a higher average amount raised per IPO, four of the top five IPOs in 2022 were traditional listings.
Auditor market share – all IPOs
Marcum took the lead for all 2022 IPOs with 43 clients, representing 22.5% of the market share. Friedman followed with 18 clients at just over 9%. Following Friedman’s merger with Marcum in September, 15 of Friedman’s IPO clients are currently being audited by Marcum. In total, the top 10 audit firms made up 67.5% of the IPO audit market share in 2022.
Auditor market share – excluding SPACs
PwC had the most traditional IPO clients, auditing 11 newly listed companies in 2022. PwC’s clients also raised the most, with nearly $3.2 billion in gross proceeds total. Marcum and Friedman tied for second with nine IPO clients each. Although Deloitte ranked fourth, their clients accumulated the second-highest gross proceeds at $1.7 billion.
Emerging growth companies
Continuing the upward trend that began in 2017, the percentage of companies that identify as emerging growth companies (EGCs) remained high in 2022. Just as in 2021, 94% of all IPOs claimed EGC status in 2022.
Overall, it seems that the IPO boom seen over the last few years has come to an end. FY 2022 has reversed the upward trends seen for IPOs over the past five years, experiencing record declines across nearly all categories.
See how Ideagen Audit Analytics can help navigate audit, regulatory and public company disclosure data.
Find out more