The IPO market remained active in the first quarter of 2021 as it followed the continued momentum seen in the second half of last year. Nasdaq hit a record first quarter after it welcomed 275 Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) that raised $74.4 billion in total proceeds.
Out of these new listings, 196 were Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), investment vehicles that raise funds via an IPO in order to complete a targeted acquisition. In total, Nasdaq ushered in roughly 87% of the total number of IPOs that listed on Nasdaq all of 2020.
In March alone, 98 IPOs chose Nasdaq as their listing exchange, including 70 SPACs and one exchange transfer. Additionally, 16 healthcare companies chose to list on Nasdaq in March, continuing our lead in the sector with a 100% healthcare win rate for the month. The month’s total proceeds raised for IPOs exceeded $26 billion from companies like Diversey Holdings, Alignment Healthcare and ACV Auctions.
As for Chinese companies, the tendency to go public on Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange has not been extinguished by the indifferent Sino-U.S. relationship and stricter listing and auditing rules. On the contrary, the first quarter of 2021 saw 20 Chinese companies went public in the US, compared with 34 Chinese IPOs in total for the whole year of 2020. Among these 20 Chinese companies’ IPOs, 14 are listed on the Nasdaq and 6 are listed on NYSE.
