The Evolution of the IPO Market

Dear Colleagues,

The IPO market has evolved since the dot-com bubble. First, over the past two decades, fewer private firms have decided to go public via a traditional IPO, while mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have become the trend as an exit route. Second, money-losing IPOs have raised an important amount of cash and investors have assigned high valuation premiums to these IPOs. This upward trend of unprofitable firms going public via IPOs seems to be continuing. Third, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects, the IPO market was strong in 2020. It was even the best IPO year since the dot-com bubble. However, the biggest part of this hot period could be due to the boom in special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) or due to direct listings, two alternative techniques for going public that changed the conventional route of IPOs. These disruptions to the conventional IPO market raise many research questions and present significant research opportunities to better understand the going public process around the world.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a collection of papers from leading experts in the area of the going public process.

The topics covered in this Special Issue will include, but are not limited to:

• IPOs vs. M&A
• Venture capital and exit mechanisms
• Alternative techniques to the conventional IPO
• Special purpose acquisition companies
• Direct listings
• Role of underwriters
• Cost of listing and performance of IPOs

Other types of papers may possibly be considered subject to their contribution to the theory and knowledge of IPO markets.

Prof. Dr. Maher Kooli
Guest Editor

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