The initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco, the Saudi Arabian multinational petroleum and natural gas company, on the Tadawul in December 2019, was the largest public offering globally ever as of December 2024. The IPO of Saudi Aramco raised approximately **** billion U.S. dollars. Why do companies opt for IPOs? An initial public offering (IPO), also known as ‘going public’, is the company’s first stock sale to the public. IPO happens when an initially private company decides to open up to the stock market, taking the first step to become a publicly traded enterprise. Shares are traded in the open market after the initial sales, and any public investor can take part on the trade. In the United States alone, *** companies made their public-market debut in 2023. IPOs are made by different companies for a number of reasons. Smaller sized companies may seek an IPO for access to capital and cheaper credit for further expansion. Other companies that may already be of considerable size, however, may use an initial public offering to other ends. Opening up to the stock market can also facilitate merger and acquisitions, considering stocks can be part of a future deal. Chinese companies feature twice Two Chinese companies featured in the list as of 2024. Alibaba had the second largest after Saudi Aramco, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in tenth place. Alibaba is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (as well as the Hong Kong Exchange), making the company’s IPO also the largest one in the U.S. to date. ICBC is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

At nearly ** billion U.S. dollars, the 2014 initial public offering (IPO) of Alibaba Group Holding Limited remains the largest IPO in the United States ever. Trailing by almost **** billion U.S. dollars, Visa takes second place, followed by ENEL SpA, an energy company based in Italy. What is an IPO? An IPO is when a private company offers shares to the public for the first time through a stock exchange. Companies do this to raise money, as seen with Alibaba. However, public companies are subject to more scrutiny, such as publishing quarterly reports for investors. Also, not all IPOs are profitable. A bad IPO can result in significant losses. Companies that could go public Unicorns are private companies valued over a billion U.S. dollars. Any of these could go public, raising significant funds. However, most IPOs are valued in the ********, not ********. The median deal size of these offerings in the United States tends to be a little more than *** million U.S. dollars. Investors keep a watch for the next IPO, since a strong offering means high returns for those who buy the stock early.

As of December 2024, the largest IPO in the UK took place in 2011 by Glencore International, the world's largest natural resource company headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, with a total market capitalization at IPO of ** billion British pounds.

The statistics presents the all-time largest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the United Kingdom (UK) as of *************, by money raised. As of **********, the largest IPO in the UK took place in 2011 by Glencore International, a natural resource company headquartered in Switzerland, with approximately *** billion British pounds raised.

On July 24, 2024, Lineage Inc. raised 5.1 billion U.S. dollars on its public debut on the Nasdaq Stock Market, making it the largest initial public offering (IPO) of the year in the United States. Six of the ten largest IPOs in the U.S. that year each raised over one billion U.S. dollars in capital. Why do companies go public? Private companies have limited access to capital and mainly use traditional sources to finance their expenditures. While such firms have more freedom to operate without reporting to investors, this also blocks the companies from raising access directly from the public. The value raised by IPOs can be significant. In hopes of gaining access to this capital, the number of IPOs in the United States generally exceeds 100 firms each year. Risks of an IPO IPO is a long and costly process. It necessitates cooperation with investment advisory firms to ensure that all requirements are met and that the process is optimally planned. A public company is subject to governmental and public scrutiny – any negative information, such as rumors about insider trading, can result in falling stock prices. Also, the time when going public is crucial. Even a prospering company can have a very low return in times of recession.

As of April 2025, the multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore International had the largest all-time IPO on the London Stock Exchange. The Anglo-Swiss company debuted on the LSE in May 2011 with an opening price of ***** billion British pounds. An initial public offering is the process by which the shares of a private company are sold to public investors for the first time.

**** was the underwriter of the initial public offering (IPO) of ************ in April 2019. At almost ** billion U.S. dollars, this was the largest all-time IPO globally as of October 2021. This was followed by *******'s 2014 IPO worth just over ** billion U.S. dollars, underwritten by *************. Who were the leading underwriters in the U.S.? Underwriting is the process through which an investment bank (the underwriter) acts as a broker between the issuing company and the investing public to help the issuing company sell its initial set of shares. As of October 2021, the underwriters of the largest IPOs in the United States were ******************************************* – the combined value of their underwritten IPOs reaching almost ** billion U.S. dollars. When taking a company public, investment banks charge underwriting fees, which are the largest single direct cost associated with an IPO. In 2020, the underwriting fees for deals in the U.S. which were valued between *** million and * billion U.S. dollars, amounted to more than * percent of the gross proceeds from the offering. What does the global IPO market look like? Going public is typically a way for private companies to raise capital for expansion, although venture capitalists can also use IPOs as exit strategies. In 2020, ************** had the largest number of traditional IPOs than any other region worldwide. This was followed by the *************, which saw a significant increase in the number of IPOs that year.

The initial public offering (IPO) of ***********, listed on the *********************, was the largest public offering in Europe in 2024. The IPO of the company was worth over *** billion euros. An initial public offering (IPO), also known as ‘going public’, is the company’s first stock sale to the public. The largest all-time IPO worldwide was worth more than ** billion euros.

Corporate law firms have enjoyed revenue growth as strong corporate profit stimulated demand for almost all of the industry's services. The largest boon to corporate lawyers came in 2021 as the number of IPOs reached an all-time high. As drafting IPOs is one of the industry's largest revenue streams, this jump brought a surge in revenue. This revenue was especially helpful to make up for a dip the year before, as pandemic-related government assistance allowed struggling businesses to delay filing for bankruptcy, lessening demand for corporate lawyers. Since 2023, revenue growth in corporate law has accelerated further, driven by strong demand across a wide range of services, with the highest increases in areas like merger advice, transactional work and regulation. Thus, industry-wide revenue is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.9% through 2025 to total $193.6 billion, with revenue rising an estimated 5.3% during 2025 alone.Strong corporate profit is the most important factor to the industry's success. Corporate profit skyrocketed following the initial pandemic trough as prices, spending and production capacities all rose to meet pent-up demand. This new capital enabled major companies to acquire smaller competitors, leading to a surge in revenue for lawyers specializing in incorporation. With more flexibility in their margins, corporations were also able to invest more in research and development projects. This, in turn, increased demand for corporate law firms to help protect intellectual property. While wages have been on the rise, revenue growth has helped law firms absorb these costs and keep profit high, especially for the nation's top firms.Looking forward, corporate lawyers are expected to enjoy steady growth. Corporate profit is forecast to rise as interest rates decline, even as the effect of tariff policy shifts engenders economic uncertainty. Continued changes to corporate taxation, first under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and now with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, will encourage major companies to seek consulting services from corporate lawyers in order to comply with evolving corporate tax obligations and incentives. Much of this demand will be met by in-house legal departments, though, which experts anticipate to become more prevalent. Still, the range of corporate law firms' cyclical and countercyclical services will continue to make the industry especially resilient, and revenue is forecast to climb at a CAGR of 0.6% through 2030 to total $199.9 billion.

Up to 2023, the life insurance group AIA ranked first with an IPO volume amounting to around ****** billion Hong Kong dollars. Hong Kong had been a popular destination for mainland Chinese companies to raise funds.

India Retail Electronic Clearing: Value: Electronic Clearing Services: Credit Payment data was reported at 0.000 INR mn in May 2023. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 INR mn for Apr 2023. India Retail Electronic Clearing: Value: Electronic Clearing Services: Credit Payment data is updated monthly, averaging 59,200.000 INR mn from Apr 2004 (Median) to May 2023, with 230 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,752,240.000 INR mn in Feb 2008 and a record low of 0.000 INR mn in May 2023. India Retail Electronic Clearing: Value: Electronic Clearing Services: Credit Payment data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Reserve Bank of India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Monetary – Table IN.KAI008: Credit Transfer: Retail. The spike observed in February 2008 is due to high value of refunds in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) segment from ADAG Group - Reliance Power, which is one of the largest IPO.

India Retail Electronic Payment: Value data was reported at 23,181,829.042 INR mn in Oct 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 22,012,660.162 INR mn for Sep 2019. India Retail Electronic Payment: Value data is updated monthly, averaging 3,326,320.000 INR mn from Apr 2004 (Median) to Oct 2019, with 187 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 29,481,301.495 INR mn in Mar 2019 and a record low of 71,152.100 INR mn in May 2004. India Retail Electronic Payment: Value data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Reserve Bank of India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Monetary – Table IN.KAI038: Retail Electronic Clearing (Discontinued). The spike observed in February 2008 is due to high value of refunds in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) segment from ADAG Group - Reliance Power, which is one of the largest IPO.

2021 was quite a year for initial public offers (IPOs) in the United States, which was largely influenced by the significant rise in the number of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) who went public. In 2021, there were ***** initial public offerings (IPOs) in the United States. In 2022 and 2023, however, the number of IPOs dropped to *** and *** respectively. 2024 saw a rise in the number of IPOs, reaching *** by the end of the year. What does it mean to go public? The management of a private company has a lot of control over its operation, but raising funds from investors is more difficult. To access funds from regular investors, that is the general public, firms go public by offering stock shares at a certain price. As a result, these firms often have more capital to work with. An IPO can, and often does, raise ******** of dollars for a firm. However, publicly traded companies also face increased regulation and disclosure requirements. Staying private Some firms delay going public for a longer time, in spite of their increasing value. If their valuation goes above *********** U.S. dollars, these firms are called unicorns, and the highest valued unicorns are mostly based in the U.S. and China. Some firms, such as SpaceX, are still heavily investing in research and development projects, which shareholders often dislike due to low short-run dividends. At the moment, most unicorns are found in the technology sector, which is also the leading sector for IPOs in the United States. This indicates that investors consider this to be the industry most likely to see growth, and thus most worth investing in when companies go public.

2023 saw a total of ** initial public offerings (IPOs) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), compared to ** in the previous year, with a total market capitalization on admission of *** billion British pounds. While the largest admission in 2023 was by Amicorp FS (UK) plc, the all-time largest admission onto the LSE was by Glencore International plc in 2011. An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is the first time that a company's stock is sold to the public in the organized capital market.

This statistic shows the largest global stock exchanges globally as of March 2025, ranked by the value of electronic order book share trading. In that time, the NYSE Stock Market was the largest stock exchange worldwide, with the value of EOB shares traded amounting to *** trillion U.S. dollars. Stock exchanges — additional information Stock exchanges are an important part of the free market economic system and are the most important component of the stock market. A stock exchange provides the setting in which stockbrokers, sellers, buyers, and traders can be brought together to take part in the sale of shares, bonds, derivatives and other securities. The core function of a stock exchange is to enable the fair and orderly trading, as well as the provision of price information, of any securities being traded on that exchange. Originally the exchanges were physical places (in some world locations the goods are still traded over-the-counter) but with time, they took the shape of an electronic platform. In order that company shares may be bought, traded and sold on a stock exchange, the company is required to have undergone an initial public offering process (IPO) on that particular exchange. The initial public offering of Alibaba Group Holding, a Chinese company operating in the e-commerce sector, on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, was the largest listing in the United States since 1996. The IPO of Alibaba Group Holding raised approximately ***** billion U.S. dollars.

In 2024, there were **** initial public offerings (IPOs) in Germany, compared to ***** in 2023. The IPOs displayed refer to the EU regulated market (Prime Standard), which is an organized market as well as a legally regulated stock segment where conditions for approval and follow-up obligations are also regulated by the law.

2020 and 2021 were a record year for SPAC IPO filings, even though they had been steadily growing in popularity over the last decade. In 2021, SPACs had raised capital in *** IPOs in that year alone. A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a company with no business operations which is set up for the sole purpose of raising capital through an initial public offering with the goal of buying an existing company. The U.S. ranked second globally in terms of traditional IPO numbers, with the highest number of traditional IPOs occurring in mainland China. In comparison, there were ** SPAC IPOs in 2023, and ** in 2024. How have SPAC IPOs historically performed in the U.S.? From 2003 to 2019, the funds raised by SPAC IPOs remained somewhat consistent, with the value of funds never exceeding ** billion U.S. dollars except in 2003 and 2019. SPAC IPOs raised the largest amount of funds between January and December 2021, with the value of funds raised surpassing *** billion U.S. dollars. In the previous year, SPAC IPOs raised more funds than all preceding years combined. The U.S. vs Europe While SPAC IPOs in the U.S. have been slowly increasing over the past six years, numbers have remained significantly lower in Europe. Europe has still not seen annual SPAC IPO numbers exceed nine per year, while those in the U.S. have increased more each year, reaching a significant high-point in 2020 that is expected to be further surpassed by the end of 2021. During the first three months of 2021, less than **** percent of SPAC IPOs completed globally came from Europe.

The total value of assets of Saudi Aramco in 2024 was approximately ***** billion U.S. dollars. Saudi Aramco was ranked one of the most profitable companies worldwide according to its credit rating. Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco is a major player amongst global oil companies. The Saudi oil company is a global leader in crude oil production, producing almost ** million of barrels per day. Recently, Aramco reported a net income of over *** billion U.S. dollars. IPO as part of Vision 2030 The Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammad bin Salman first announced in 2016 his plans to make Saudi Aramco public as part of his Vision 2030 project. The fundamental idea of his agenda was to bring socio-economical reforms to Saudi Arabia in order to make it a strong and globally compatible country for future generations to come. A main part of those reforms was for the kingdom to wean itself off oil rents and its dependency on them, and to diversify its economy to bring new prospects and employment options for its citizens. All of this was supposed to be financed by the initial public offering of its leading state-owned oil enterprise Saudi Aramco. After many delays, the much anticipated first stage of Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering took place in December 2019. About two to three percent of Saudi Aramco’s shares were sold as “Tadawuls” on the Saudi Stock Exchange for over 30 billion U.S. dollars, making it the largest IPO of all time. In a later planned second stage of the IPO, Saudi Aramco’s shares will be traded on international stock exchanges.

As of January 29, 2025, the FTSE index stood at ******** points - well above its average value of around ***** points in the past few years.On the 12th of March 2020, amid the escalating crisis surrounding the coronavirus and fears of a global recession, the FTSE 100 suffered the second largest one day crash in its history and the biggest since the 1987 market crash. On the 23rd of March, the FTSE index saw its lowest value this year to date at ******** but has since began a tentative recovery. With the continuation of the pandemic, the FTSE 100 index was making a tentative recovery between late March 2020 and early June 2020. Since then the FSTE 100 index had plateaued towards the end of July, before starting a tentative upward trend in November. FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, otherwise known as the FTSE 100 Index is a share index of the 100 largest companies trading on the London Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization. At the end of March 2024, the largest company trading on the LSE was Shell. The largest ever initial public offering (IPO) on the LSE was Glencore International plc. European stock exchanges While nearly every country in Europe has a stock exchange, only five are considered major, and have a market capital of over one trillion U.S dollars. European stock exchanges make up two of the top ten major stock markets in the world. Europe’s biggest stock exchange is the Euronext which combines seven markets based in Belgium, France, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal.