There were 259 initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Nasdaq and NYSE exchanges between October 1 and December 31, 2021. More than $65 billion was raised, an increase of $15 billion from the previous quarter. This was in line with the amount raised during Q4 2020. Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) rebounded in the current period representing nearly two-thirds of Q4 2021 IPOs.
The number of IPOs during Q4 2021 was once again higher than any other fourth quarter in the 22 years tracked by Audit Analytics. These 259 IPOs represented a 23% increase from Q4 2020. The average proceeds from these offerings declined by 19% from $331.5 million in Q4 2020 to $251.8 million in Q4 2021.
Unicorn IPOs
There were five IPOs with proceeds greater than $1 billion during the quarter. Rivian Automotive [RIVN] led the way with $11.9 billion. Rivian is an electric truck manufacturer with backing from Amazon [AMZN] and Ford Motor [F].
Auditor Market Share – All IPOs
Once again, Marcum led the way with 97 clients. Marcum’s clients raised $17.5 billion. Withum was in a distant second with 21 clients, followed by BDO and EY with 19 clients each. This solidifies Marcum as the top SPAC auditor, as Withum took a step back from the niche market. However, general competition grew with 13 different accounting firms having at least one SPAC IPO client during Q4 2021.
Auditor Market Share – Excluding SPACs
The Big Four accounting firms were much more represented among traditional and direct listing IPOs. EY led among non-SPAC IPOs with 19 clients, followed by Deloitte with 13, PwC with 10, and KPMG with 9. This represented 54% of non-SPAC IPOs. KPMG’s clients raised the most with $15.9 billion.
252 of the 259 IPOs chose to register as emerging growth companies (EGCs) during Q4 2021. This represented 97% of IPOs.
Stay tuned for our 2021 annual analysis of IPOs next week.
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