The statistic presents the largest IPOs worldwide as of March 2018. 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 public offering globally as of March 2018. The IPO of Alibaba Group Holding raised approximately 21.77 billion U.S. dollars.
Largest IPOs worldwide – additional information
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, 275 companies made their public-market debut in 2014, out of which more than half of the companies were either in the health care sector or in the technology sector. 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.
Three Chinese companies had the largest IPOs in history as of 2018. Alibaba led the rank, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) as second and third respectively. Alibaba is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, making the company’s IPO also the largest one in the U.S. to date. Both ICBC and ABC are listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Visa was the best-ranked American company in terms of IPO, raising 17.86 billion U.S. dollars in its initial public offering in 2008. Facebook IPO, valued at 16 billion U.S. dollars, is also has one of the largest IPOs in the world. The initial public offering of the social network giant in 2012 is still the second largest amongst internet-based company in the U.S.
