Q4 2023 IPO trends

Sarah Keohane Date published: Jan 11, 24

The final quarter of 2023 saw 40 new initial public offerings (IPOs), raising a total of $4.2 billion. This is a slight decline in total IPOs from Q3, but a much larger drop in total proceeds, which decreased by 54% in Q4. However, compared to Q4 2022, IPOs doubled while the total amount raised increased by 127%. Overall, 2023 has seen an average of 41 IPOs and $5.98 billion raised per quarter.

IPO type

Traditional IPOs constituted the majority of new listings this quarter, representing 77.5% of all new IPOs. Additionally, there were eight special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPOs and one direct listing during the quarter.

Traditional IPOs raised an average of $105.5 million per company. Comparatively, SPACs IPOs had a slightly higher average at $106.4 million per company.

Unicorn IPO

Birkenstock Holding PLC was the only company in Q4 to raise over $1 billion for its IPO. The international footwear brand completed its traditional IPO in October and raised over $1.4 billion in gross proceeds. For context, the company ranked second in gross proceeds during the quarter raised a total of $409 million, less than a third of Birkenstock’s total.

Auditor market share – Excluding SPACs

Excluding SPACs, 24 different firms audited 32 newly listed companies in Q4 2023. Marcum had the most clients, auditing four newly listed companies. However, EY ranked number one in terms of gross proceeds with only two IPO clients during the quarter. EY’s German subsidiary was the auditor of Brikenstock Holding PLC at the time of the IPO, contributing to EY’s staggering total.

Auditor market share – SPACs

In Q4 2023, four different firms audited the eight SPAC IPOs completed during the quarter. MaloneBailey had the most SPAC IPO clients, auditing three newly listed companies which raised a combined total of $181 million.